


A Long Road to True Freedom

by SilentHillKitty



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Action & Romance, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mild Language, Slow Burn, Smut, Suspense, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-07-07 06:04:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 50,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15902367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentHillKitty/pseuds/SilentHillKitty
Summary: The Agents have returned to the Deepsea Metro Station to find a way to reverse the Sanitation done to the Octarians. Over time, Agents Three and Eight grow closer until their feelings for each other surpass mere friendship.  Establishing their relationship was only the beginning of the long road ahead of them as many trials lie waiting to put their emotions to the ultimate test.  Will they have what it takes to pull through victorious?  Or fall victim to a new threat slowly building deep beneath the surface?





	1. A Needed Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Agents have returned to the Deepsea Metro Station to find a way to reverse the Sanitation done to the Octarians. Coming up empty on all leads, Agent Four suggests that Three and Eight rest up in the back car of the train while waiting to arrive at a new location. Agent Three decides it wise to take her up on the idea, while Agent Eight decides to use their alone time for _more_ than just sleeping.

Agent Three sighed tiredly as he sat down on the empty bench. Looking over to his left, he saw Pearl and Marina talking excitedly to one another over some new song they were working on. He chuckled as he continued to watch them for a moment longer before stretching out his limbs. His entire being was sore and ached uncontrollably as he tried to relax against the uncomfortable train bench.

They had returned to the Deepsea Metro Station not even two weeks after defeating Commander Tartar and NILS, all in search for a way to reverse the sanitation process and save those whom were still alive underground.

It has now nearly been six months since then and they've only come across a small handful of leads to go by. Originally, Agent Three had insisted that he do this mission alone seeing as he had access to an employee's CQ-80. However, Marina had made a valid point that this task was far too great for one body alone to tackle and hope to succeed. After coming to terms with this truth, Agent Three gave in and now everyone on the team were involved and helping. This included Agents One, Two and the newest recruit, Four.

As Agent Three became more and more lost within his thoughts, he barely felt the train slowing until he was jarred by the jerky vibrations of it's halting. The doors soon then slid open to allow a young looking male Octoling, equipped with a rather strange looking Ink tank, board the train. He sighed with a rather heavy slump of his shoulders before looking around the train at the passengers. He smiled and greeted everyone warmly, however once his bright pink eyes locked with the vibrant teal of Agent Three, his smile changed; becoming softer and far more intimate as he slowly made his way over towards the relaxing Inkling.

"Good morning, Agent Three. Have any luck out there today?" he asked kindly, his tone of voice much lower in octave compared to nearly all Inklings and yet still so silky and smooth it nearly made Agent Three's yellow colored tentacles tremble.

"Considering I had about the same type of reaction as you just now when I had gotten back on board... that would be a negative." He still smiled up at the other male, his expression inviting the Octoling to join him.

He chuckled lightly while taking a seat directly next to his Inkling partner, sighing heavily after settling down, "Man, I knew this wouldn't be easy... But I also thought it wouldn't be _this_ impossible."

Three chuckled himself while patting the other on his shoulder, "Don't give up hope yet, Eight. We're bound to get to the source of this and save everyone."

The Octoling nodded his head while fist pumping the air, a large grin on his face. "You're right! There are still so many Octolings that are trapped down here." Agent Three's smile softened as he hummed with a curt nod of his own head, his thoughts once again wandering off.

Once they had stopped Commander Tartar from destroying the world, the young Octoboy wanted to continue helping Cap'n Cuttlefish and had happily accepted the offered permanent roll as Agent Eight. He had learned many things from everyone, but mainly found himself almost always drawn to Agent Three. The two of them had quickly become good friends and two months later, they began dating.

Agent Four was the first to find out. Of course, she also more or less earned herself the boasting rights of being their "Matchmaker". Agent Eight had apparently began talking to her first about his feelings for Three about a month after reaching the surface. So when Four approached Three about it surprisingly casually, Agent Three-against his better judgement-found himself also confining his feelings within the young female Agent. Before the two of them were able to confess to each other, the rest of the team had found out. All of which accepted it and supported them through everything. They had all become even closer friends after that.

His strong feelings for the Octoling were mostly to blame for Agent Three putting up such a strong fight against allowing the newly freed Octarian to return to the place that put him through such torture and pure hell. He knew Eight was strong enough and more than capable of protecting himself. He was more concerned about the younger one's mental and emotional state.

Right after they were safely back within Inkopolis, Eight had asked-borderline _begged_ -to have stayed with Agent Three after the plan of the others trying to help him find his own place didn't work out. Once an agreement was made, the Octoling moved into Three's one bedroom and one bathroom apartment. He had apologized for it being a minimalist's dream home and blamed his lack of free time since becoming an Agent, but the rescued Octoling had smiled while throwing himself into the Inkling's chest and thanking him, saying it was perfect.

That very moment had been what sparked Three's feelings' for Eight, much to the Inkling's surprise.

Starting out for them was not that easy however as each night since coming to the surface, Eight had suffered horrible night-terrors. On one particular night, the Inkling had learned the hard way that gently trying to shake one awake from an awful nightmare had quickly found itself on the "How to NOT wake one suffering from post-traumatic night-terrors" list. He couldn't get Callie to stop pointing out how bad his cheek had to have been hurting him. And it took even _longer_ to get Eight to stop blaming himself for punching him.

Just one week after moving in with him, there was a night during a nasty thunderstorm where Eight was having an unusually bad time. He still to this day refuses to talk to Three about the dream, but during the time-instead of trying to wake him from it, the Inkling tried a different approach. He had insisted the Octoling continue to sleep in his bed while he took the couch after moving in, so after making his way into the bedroom after being woken by Agent Eight's screaming, using great caution the older Agent slowly climbed onto the mattress and with soothing words, gently scooped the thrashing Octoling into his arms and held him close against his chest. To Three's surprise, Eight had immediately rolled into his hold and tightly clung to him, soon calming from his fitful sleep.

From that night on, they did not sleep apart from each other and the nightmares more or less ceased. That was also the night that the Octoling had remembered his real name.

The train had once again begun moving, the motions pulling the Inkling from his thoughts and glancing out the window. He saw that this time the tracks appeared to be endless. "Looks like it's at least about a forty-five minute to an hour long ride until we reach the next stop." Marina pointed out on her laptop's map of the station's railways she was able to download from Agent Three's stolen employee CQ-80, effectively interrupting the rap battle between Pearl and Cap'n Cuttlefish.

"Aww, man! Really?" Pearl sighed overly dramatically as she slumped back into her seat.

Three scoffed to himself at the thought of being stuck in these uncomfortable seats for so long while Eight slowly allowed himself to lean over and rest his head on the Inkling's shoulder. The older male had glanced down at the younger before smiling and leaning his head down to rest atop his partner's. Teal eyes suddenly grew very heavy as fatigue seemed to weigh heavily over his being now that Agent Eight was with him and they were both in a safe place.

Agent Four, who had been sitting across from them, smiled herself while silently watching the interaction and quietly made a suggestion; "You two have been at this nearly all night. Why don't you guys go rest up in the train's back car?"

Agent Three lifted his head up and gave her a suspicious look while Eight sat up and stretched, fighting the urge to release a long yawn.  
"That's a wonderful idea!" Marina clapped her hands together before continuing, "And Mr. C.Q. Cumber even allowed us to set up a couple of mattresses to give all of us a decent place to rest up. He's really generous and wants to help out in any way he can with freeing the Sanitized Octarians. You two should definitely get some rest first. Because, let's be honest... you guys are the most familiar with this place."

"Even considering I spent most of my time behind the scenes trying to find the Cap'n...?" Three muttered more to himself. Agent Eight still heard him and patted his lap while offering him a smile.

The Octoboy then at last allowed the yawn to escape from him while stretching again, "I'm alright resting up out here. I've slept in far more uncomfortable places before you guys helped me escape from here. But... what about you, Three?" he asked and looked up at his partner.

The innocent expression on the tired Octoling's face shamefully shot a jolt of arousal down between Agent Three's thighs, causing him to squirm a bit in his seat and clear his throat. "Actually, a mattress may be a better option. We're both extremely tired and these seats won't do our bodies any good."

Eight nodded in instant agreement and pushed himself up to his protesting feet. "Good point. So then... shall we?"

"We'll wake you two up once we arrive to the new location." Marina smiled before turning back towards her laptop. Pearl and the Cap'n had long ago gone back to their private rap battle.

"Good night guys..." Agent Four waved before giving them both, mainly Agent Three, a knowing smirk as she added; "... have _fun~_!"

The male Inkling glared hard at her for a long second as Agent Eight blinked at her, confusion evident on his face. "What?" Agent Three however got to his own feet and pushed Eight along the way while throwing one more harsh glare at the cheerfully grinning Agent Four.

Both Agents Three and Eight polity excused themselves and carefully made their way towards the back of the train. Coming across C.Q. Cumber, they spoke with the tiny creature for a few moments before thanking him once again for allowing them to sleep in the storage car. As they moved to enter the room, Agent Eight couldn't help but glance down at the small pile of magazines featuring Inkopolis, a small smile tugging at his lips as he remembered before reaching the surface how he would spend who knew how long just day dreaming and imagining what Inkopolis would be like. Of course, it ended up being _nothing_ like what he thought. It was so much more better!

Once inside the small car and the door was shut tight, Three turned his back to the door and collapsed against it with a heavy sigh while ensuring his Hero Headset was turned off; "I swear... I'm going to invite Four into a private match just to splat that damn smirk off her face." He startled a little and opened his eyes upon feeling hands gently undoing the heavy cape he still chose to wear.

"I like her. She's really nice and funny. Besides, she _did_ help you and me get to where we are now..." Eight smiled while taking the cape and carefully folding it. "I mean, I know she teases a lot... but she means well."

Three watched Eight folding his cape for a second before pushing replying; "Oh I have no doubt that she means well," Three began as he pushed himself away from the door and took his cape from Eight's hands, ignoring his confused look. "I just can't stand it sometimes how right she can be with her damn smirks." He finished while tossing the cape onto a box in the corner.

Eight watched the cape land with a dull thud, "What do you mean by that, Three?" He was startled suddenly as he was given the answer; Agent Three had taken a hold of Eight by his upper arms and pulled him against himself, the Octoling's eyes open wide in shock until the feel of slightly chapped lips moving against his own soft ones pulled a moan from his throat and caused him to relax against the hold on him, his eyes soon sliding shut.

Pressing deeper into the kiss, Eight pouted as Three suddenly pulled away, "Between her damn knowing looks and that innocent look _you're_ always giving me, I'm about to go crazy." the Inkling breathed huskily while resting his forehead against his partner's.

Eight chuckled while moving to wrap his arms around Three's neck, pushing their hips together and feeling the older Agent beginning to express his excitement. "I won't tell her she was right." the Octoling grinned while pulling Three down towards him for a more heated kiss.

Lips parted and tongues began the dance for dominance (which Eight soon surrendered to) as the Inkling guided them both more into the small room and towards the makeshift 'bed' which really only consisted of a box spring and mattress that were tossed on the floor.

Feeling the backs of his calves come into contact with the mattresses, Eight broke the kiss and licked his lips. Gazing into the other Agent's lust filled, half-lidded eyes, Eight's own bright pink orbs reflecting his growing desire and needs that only the person standing before him can fulfill.

Moving to unhook both his and the Octoling's ink tanks, he took them over and leaned them up against the same box his cape was resting on. He knew it was too risky to go too far, between potential enemies and being caught by their fellow team mates, however Agent Three _did_ at least intend to get them both off. After moving to be before him once again, he gently encouraged Eight to sit down and scoot back on the bed, climbing on top of the mattress after him and then straddling the younger male's hips.

Eight couldn't help the slightly goofy smile he got as Three lowered himself to start nibbling on his exposed neck after the Inkling took the zipper to his top and pulled it down only about an inch, unable to prevent the strangled moan that escaped him as Agent Three went straight for his sensitive spots. They may have only been together for a short while and only _physically intimate_ once before, but Agent Three already had a large portion of the younger male's body mapped out and mastered.

Eight hates to think that maybe he's just super easy because Agent Three is his first for pretty much everything, but then he remembers the trial and error that the Inkling had gone through to _find_ those spots. So he came to the conclusion that he wasn't easy after all and that Three just has a great memory.

He was pulled from those thoughts as he gasped lightly, finger tips clinging to the back of Three's Hero Jacket. The cause for his small noise were the three sharp teeth of his partner finding the Octoling's defenseless ear and taking the lobe hostage, suckling gently as he rocked his hips.  
"Ah..." Eight already felt his body responding to the older male's ministrations as his temperature steadily rose along with _another_ part of him. 

Three chuckled deeply in the back of his throat, the low sound appearing thunderous against the captured ear, causing a shudder to pass through the young Octoling in his grasp; "I guess no more teasing? You feel pretty tensed up..." he purred while moving to suddenly capture Agent Eight's lips in a deep and passionate kiss.

Using the kiss as a distraction, Three maneuvered his hands down to the front of the Octoling's black pants. Fingers worked deftly to undo and begin sliding Eight's pants off his hips.

The young Agent felt the tug and obediently lifted his hips, allowing Three to push the garment down to hug his thighs. A shaky sigh of relief escaped Eight as his confined cock sprang free, bouncing up to rest heavily against his lower abdomen. Taking deep and steady breaths in an attempt to calm himself, Eight opened his eyes as he felt Three shifting around above him.

The Inkling had sat back and reached for the front of his own shorts. "The others are all right outside... think you can keep quiet?" he smirked.

Eight simply nodded as he watched Three push his shorts down to pool by his knees. Heat rushed throughout the Octoling's body at the sight of his partner's dark cock, gaze filling with hunger the longer he stared at it standing proudly just for him. His entire being then shuddered in anticipation as his gaze trailed up to the shiny tip, his tongue subconsciously slipping between his slightly parted lips as he watched Agent Three's excitement already beginning to bead at the slit.

Ever since their first time only just days ago, Eight has been down right _craving_ for the Inkling to take him again. But because of their current 'mission', they couldn't really find the time. Now was the first window of opportunity that they have been given and he was planning on taking _full_ advantage of it.

Pushing himself up on his left elbow, Eight used his right hand to gently take a hold of Three's weeping shaft, slowly sliding his hand up and down the entire length. The sounds that came from Agent Three were down right delicious and for his ears only as he watched the otherwise normally stoic Agent crumbling at his touches. Seeing the other's darker skin tone blooming into a blush had Eight biting his lower lip to keep from whimpering at the sight before him.

Three was his first and even though he knows that the Inkling had been with one other prior to him, he still likes to believe he's the only one to ever see this vulnerable side of him. Three never really went into much detail about his ex other than she had been unfaithful to him. 

Pushing all of those thoughts out of his mind, Eight paused his motions and laid back against the mattress. Using his left hand, he caressed the back of Three's neck and gently pulled, hinting that he wanted the other closer.

Three of course happily obliged and allowed Eight to pull him down on top of him. He groaned and kissed him deeply as the Octoling suddenly took both of their cocks in his hand and squeezed them together. Both heated shafts being pleasantly fisted as tongues took up another dance for dominance soon had both Agents' hips rocking into the stroking hand.

As the pleasure continued to build, Eight suddenly began feeling constricted by his tight pants and fought to kick one of his boots off. Getting his right foot free, he released their cocks much to Agent Three's displeasure and reached down to push his pants down enough to allow his right leg to slip completely free; never once breaking the kiss.

Agent Three quickly picked up on his partner's mounting distress and so pushed himself up at arms length above the Octoling's body, ending the kiss in the process. Gauging how Eight's body was reacting and his own feelings, he knew they were both getting closer to the euphoric edge they were equally craving to fall over.

Without a single word passing from his lips, Agent Three took both of Agent Eight's hands into his own, lacing their fingers together and holding them down against the mattress on either side of the younger male's head and used his hold on him to push himself up onto his knees. Nudging Eight's freed leg had the other instinctively bending his leg at the knee and dropping it to the side, allowing him to now be settled between the Octoling's spread legs however he kept himself propped up on his knees.

Both Agents' maintained direct eye contact with one another as they continued where they had left off, rocking their hips as Three pushed his hardness into Eight's with shuddering gasps, trying to create as much friction as they could as their lengths rubbed and slid smoothly against one another. Sweat soon began to bead up and roll down exposed flesh to be absorbed by clothing and bed sheets as the small room quickly became hot and stuffy. Deep, ragged panting filled the silence between them as they fought to control their breathing the closer to release they got however their sounds were luckily not loud enough to be heard by their teammates over the dull, almost mind numbing white noise caused by the train being in motion.

A droplet of sweat dripped from the tip of Agent Three's nose and landed on Eight's left cheek, sliding down his brightly flushed face to become absorbed by the crinkling sheets beneath him. The Octoling swallowed, his throat becoming dry as his breathing became labored the more aroused he became. Their hands simultaneously gripped each other harder as bodies trembled and shook, peaks nearly met. Agent Eight could no longer remain silent; "Oh... g-god. Ah, A-Agent Three-! I'm... I'm so--I'm about to--!" he struggled to get a full sentence formed.

The Inkling chuckled, his tone shaky; "Shh... I know." he whispered breathlessly while leaning down enough to place a chaste kiss to the Octoling's trembling tentacle. "Me too, Eight." He then made a mental note that, should he and Eight ever did anything like this again while out on the field, he would be sure to remove his entire Hero gear as he felt like he was suffocating in his jacket.

Feeling the familiar hot coil forming in his lower stomach about ready to burst as his orgasm was upon him, Eight's sudden choked plea had Three's entire being halting instantly; 

"Please, I'm so close. I-I want you inside me, Three!"

Looking down at the hot and bothered Agent beneath him, the Inkling let out a shuddering sigh, "W-what?"

Feeling minutely annoyed at Agent Three stopping and asking questions, Eight licked his lips and swallowed in a failed attempt to dampen his almost painfully dry throat. "T-Three... I'm so close to coming. But I... I kinda want _more_ than just... rutting together, you know? Can you... make love to me?"

Three's body violently shook as an almost painful wave of arousal surged through him at Eight's words and tone of voice. Shaking his head and trying to keep control, Agent Three gasped; "Eight... l-listen. As much as I would _love_ to just screw you into this mattress... this isn't the best place. I mean, hell we're testing our luck right now just by doing _this_. They could hear us." he explained in a hushed and hurried tone.

Eight however only lidded his eyes seductively and raised his head to attempt a kiss while whispering; "Just be quiet about it?"

Three pulled his head back and out of Eight's range, earning a pout; "Eight! Look, I'm sorry but _that_ will have to wait until we return home. It's too dangerous to allow ourselves to become so vulnerable. _Ah, Eight!_ " The Inkling hissed loudly as the younger male rolled his hips sharply against the flustered Agent.

Eight then frowned while settling against the mattress, looking up into teal eyes glazed over with lust, "Was I... bad the first time?"

Agent Three blinked, knowing _perfectly_ well he was walking right into the Octoling's trap; "Were you...? Oh for the love of... _no!_ You were _amazing_! I'm just saying that there is a time and place to safely... you know. And _this is neither!_ It's bad enough we've allowed ourselves to become _this_ exposed, but actual _intercourse_ is pushing our luck far too greatly! It's risky and dangerous!"

Eight smiled coyly as he watched the Inking's face brighten from blush as he became more frustrated and embarrassed. As well as more turned on. "But... I thought you _liked_ risks and danger?"

" _Totally different situations!_ "

"Make love to me." Agent Eight suddenly demanded in a low tone, his pink eyes sparkling in the darkness with lust and desire.

"Dammit... _no!_ " Three hissed, his groin aching from the intense stare he was caught under.

"Do you want to?"

"I...? Shit, of _course_ I do!" he snapped, feeling his control on the situation slipping away from him.

The younger male pushed himself into a sitting position as Three let go of his hands and leaned back to rest on his heels, taking the chance to move to his hands and knees and crawl over the other. With tender touches and a soft tone, Eight successfully encouraged the Inkling to lie down on _his_ back, "We _are_ safe. We'll also be careful and quiet. They won't catch us..." he whispered, his lips pressing a fleeting kiss to the corner of the stunned Agent's mouth. Agent Eight knew Three's resistance to have sex right now was _only_ because he didn't want to risk them being heard by the others.

Agent Four... to be more specific.

Without another word, the Octoling took off his other boot and fully removed his pants. Standing on his knees and naked from the waist down, Eight was very pleased to see Agent Three taking in the sight of him, and even more pleased to see the renewed life coming to his shaft. Seeing that what he wanted was already fully exposed, Agent Eight at least reached over and pulled the Inkling's shorts down past below his knees. Taking Three's erection once again in his hand, he set an almost agonizingly slow pace as a playful punishment.

Three hissed and nearly threw his head back but remembered he still had his Hero Headset on. Keeping his head up, he watched as Eight rolled the palm of his hand over the wet head of his cock. "D-dammit..."

Seeing the other straining to keep his head upright, Agent Eight stopped his actions and pulled himself off and away from him. He then wordlessly pulled on his boots and walked over towards where their ink tanks and Agent Three's cape were.

Having left a confused and panting Inkling on the bed for only a brief few seconds, Eight didn't allow the other time to question what he was doing before he had already returned before him with the folded cape and a small clear bottle in hand.

Moving to straddle his older partner just below his saluting excitement, Eight leaned over and carefully put the folded cape just below the back of the headset, allowing Agent Three to lie back fully and rest his head comfortably.

Seeing the Octoling Still wearing his boots, Three at last spoke; "So you put your shoes back on... just to get my cape?"

Eight shrugged, "I don't know what's on this floor. I didn't want to walk barefoot on it." he simply stated while popping the lid off of the clear bottle.

"But you're totally okay screwing in this bed?" Three asked flatly with a raised brow.

Eight stare down at him with a blank expression before squeezing some of the bottle's contents into his palm.

"What is that?"

"While getting your cape, I also retrieved this from my pack." Eight smiled while setting the bottle on the floor after making sure it snapped closed. Knowing he was about to be further questioned about it, he continued; "One of the times me and Four hung out, she had suggested that I carry something like this with me. Could prove helpful with getting me out of a bad situation." He then chuckled with a wink, "Especially whenever I find myself on scouting missions alone with _you~_!"

Seeing now that it was a type of lubricant, Agent Three couldn't help the groan that vibrated his throat, "First off... I am _definitely_ splatting her. And second, you two are no longer allowed to hang out unsupervised again."

Eight simply chuckled, knowing full well that Three didn't _really_ mean that. Without another word, he reached down and took a firm hold of the Inkling's heated shaft, pulling a surprised yelp from the Agent that may have actually been heard.

Suspicions were horrifyingly confirmed when a gentle knock on the door sounded like an Ink Strike had been fired, causing both boys to freeze. Eight remained still however did not release his firm hold on his prize.

"Boys? Is everything alright in there?" Marina's concerned filled voice called from just right outside the door. Agent Three didn't trust his voice as he had clamped his hand over his mouth, teal eyes glaring daggers up at Eight.

The Octoling however smiled down at the older male deciding it was up to him to answer their teammate; "Yes, we're fine! Sorry about that! That was Agent Three! I accidentally touched him with my bare feet and I guess I'm just a little cold!"

Three glared even harder at his partner, who fluttered his lashes and made a kissy face at him. They could tell Marina was hesitating, but soon both sighed as she asked if they needed anything. "Oh, no thank you. We're all set!" Eight responded cheerfully before looking down at the male he still had pinned beneath him and whispering loud enough for only the Inkling's ears to hear; "I've got everything I need... Right _here_." He gave the weeping erection in his hand a quick squeeze, pulling a muted but sharp gasp from the other Agent.

"Well, alright... if you're sure. Try to get some rest boys."

Neither Agent moved an inch until they heard her footsteps fade away as she returned to where she had left her laptop. Eight then looked down directly into Three's eyes, his expression showing he was being serious now and that all games have ended; "I _need_ you to fuck me, Connor."

The Octoling's expression was enough, but hearing him say his name in such a tone sent a strong jolt of arousal straight to his already pleading cock. Lowering his hand to speak softly, he fought to keep his voice from quivering; "Valerie really _is_ an awful influence on you, Tobias..."

Tobias shrugged while getting into position. An exotic chill traveled through his body at Connor saying his name, knowing now that he had the Inkling's full attention, they were _finally_ going to get somewhere as they had both agreed in the very beginning to never use the other's real name while in uniform and especially out in the field for safety reasons.

Moving so that he hovered directly over the slicked head of his partner's cock, he guided the shaft towards his entrance and released a low drawn out moan as the tip breached him and slowly penetrated deeper into his being.

He really wasn't too concerned about prep as before he even boarded the train, he had made a quick stop in what looked like a small employee lounge. While he had been completing a new test, the ink color the chamber had been rigged with was nearly the same shade of yellow as Connor's natural ink color. And when he accidentally shot a balloon filled with the ink, it burst and splashed on him.

He had already been fighting off his emotions and pent up frustrations but seeing himself in a reflective surface, covered in what was nearly an identical color had caused him to quickly pass the test but fail his battle. He found the room and hoped he could take care of his 'problem' before returning to the train, but found it only made it worse.

Being brought back from his thoughts at hearing a sudden gasp from Connor, Tobias glanced down to see the Inkling bending his left leg at the knee as he continued to slowly take more of the flustered Agent inside.

"You're-- _ahh!_ You're going to get us caught!" Connor gasped, panic evident on his face.

"No. _You_ are if you don't lower your voice and stay quiet!" Agent Eight hissed back before leaning back while placing his right hand on his hip and left hand against the mattress. He turned to look over his shoulder in a failed attempt to watch Agent Three's length disappearing within him. "Aww... I wanted to watch..." he pouted just as he fully seated himself in his partner's lap.

Connor clenched his jaw and bared his teeth as he moved his hands to rest on Tobias' hips and grip him tightly as his mood very quickly and evidently changed, the Inkling becoming more responsive and desired even more participation; "Maybe I should film me fucking you sometime while we're at home?" he growled.

Agent Eight shivered with anticipation, knowing Connor was fully up to participating now as his language became more foul. "Mmm, yes please!" He then gasped loudly and used both of his hands to cover his mouth as the Inkling beneath him surged his hips upwards with no warning, driving himself deeper into the Octoling's tight heat. 

"Ahh! A-Agent Three..." he mewled while beginning to roll his hips downwards against the other's motions, the action causing both men to grind _perfectly_ against one another as Tobias' hands frantically moved from his face to grab at the front of Connor's Hero Jacket, using the material as a secure leverage to help his movements be as fluid as possible. _This_ is what he's been craving!

Connor wasn't sure how many of his powerful thrusts the young Octoling has already taken, but he grinned widely as he noticed the boy has since fallen rather silent, watching his face and absolutely loving the look of pure euphoria frozen on his features as he continued giving the male _exactly_ what he's been wanting.

Agent Eight suddenly threw his head back with a sharp gasp as Connor struck against the spot he had been waiting for, the intense waves of almost crippling pleasure setting every nerve ending within his entire being on fire, "Oooh~! Yes, Connor... right there! J-just like that, right _there_!"

" _Keep it down!_ " Connor hissed once again through clenched teeth however tightened his hold on the other male, feeling his fingertips digging into the smooth flesh spread over thin hips as he held him securely against his pivoting hips as he continued to drive them upwards into the young and eager body above.

It wasn't long after their activities started that the springs within the mattress began to protest against the strain of absorbing their feverish motions, squeaking in perfect rhythm as their desperate thrusts. The sound barely even registered to them as they remained hyper focused on each other and the numbing pleasure they continued to pour into and take from one another, though they were at least aware enough to know that the bed could not be heard from outside the room over the howling of the train.

Tobias was barely able to keep his eyes open as he gasped and moaned each time Connor's cock assaulted the small bundle of nerves hidden deeply within him with such loving strokes, each hit caused the Octoling to shudder in pure glee. Titling his head back , pink eyes glazed over in lust gazed up lazily at the ceiling of the train car, his tentacle lying limply against the side of his face and bouncing with the force of Connor's thrusts.

Agent Three kept his eyes locked onto his partner's face as he continued to satisfy him, watching for any hints or signs that showed if he was going too hard or needed to possibly change his angle.

Agent Eight, becoming quickly familiar with the feeling of an approaching orgasm, needed just one more final shove to be pushed over the edge. Bringing his attention back down and on the Inkling he continued to grind against, Tobias locked eyes with the beautiful teal of the person he was still too afraid to confess he was falling in love with.

His right hand soon moved from the now crumpled Hero Jacket and towards his neglected cock, grasping it firmly and stroking it in time with Connor's hips that continued to plunge his swollen member in and out of the Octoling's heat.

Picking up that Tobias was close to finishing as his body began contracting erratically around his member, Connor reached up to cup the back of Tobias' head and pulled him down into a deep and passionate kiss. If there was one crucial thing that the Inkling had learned from their first night of passion, it was that the Octoling could get _highly_ vocal during his climax. So he kept him lip-locked to mute his erotic sounds brought on by his orgasm until after he finishes to prevent him of possibly being heard.

Half a dozen more sharply driven drives from Conner's shaft directly into his sweet spot caused the final undoing as Tobias' body began convulsing upon entering his climax, his shrill cries being swallowed by Connor as the Inkling kept their mouths pressed tightly together.

Just as he felt his seed passing through him and exploding forth, Tobias pushed through enough of the haze his brain fell into and managed to shove Agent Three's Hero Jacket up past his chest and towards his chin to avoid any possible stains as he came hard and made a mess of the Inkling's stomach and chest. Despite his fast thinking and best efforts however, a few stray white droplets still managed to splatter the edge of Connor's jacket.

Connor at last broke the kiss and dug his head into his makeshift pillow, eyes tightly squeezed shut and jaw painfully clenched as Tobias' entrance bared down on him as a result from his intense release, pulling a choked moan from the older male as his own orgasm was pulled from him; "Ooooh... _fuuucckk_... Tobi..."

Feeling his cock pulsating within the confine's of his partner's moist heat, Connor acted faster than he knew he was capable of and stilled Tobias' hips as they had continued to rock sluggishly against him. With a loud gasp that at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care if heard, he lifted the lethargic Octoling from his twitching cock and fully removed himself just as he came.

Tobias shivered as he used the little strength he had left to keep himself standing up on his knees, casually stroking himself while feeling Agent Three's essence splash against his buttocks and begin to trail thickly down his inner thighs. As much as he would've loved to have felt the sensations of Connor ejaculating within him once again, he was rather grateful he didn't due to the fact that they lacked any real products to properly clean with at the moment, and he really didn't want to run around the Deepsea Metro station all sticky.

Tobias sighed shakily as he slowly sat back against Connor's thighs, weakly smiling as he felt them trembling beneath him. Exhaustion set in heavily now as his eyes fell half lidded, watching the Agent's cock twitching out the remains of his pleasure. He really _was_ falling hard for the Inkling, but was too terrified of possibly being rejected to bring himself to confess to him. Sure, he treats him special and obviously cares for him... so Connor _has_ to have _some_ strong feelings for him too, right? It couldn't be just for the sex... considering they've been a couple now already for four months and just last week Tobias had given Connor his virginity.

Since their first time, nothing has changed really between the two of them except that now Tobias has taken notice of Connor becoming even _more_ attentive to the young Octoling. Not to mention so much more overprotective and maybe even a little bit possessive. But still, despite all of this, Tobias just couldn't find the courage to confess to Connor and so for the time being convinced himself that it was still too early to be admitting any feelings of love.

Unbeknownst to the Octoling, Agent Three was very much having the same emotional conflict. Connor felt he had no problem admitting he was falling for Tobias. His biggest fear however, was being hurt again. He thought he was in love with the girl he was with before Tobias, but ended up being left broken hearted and less trust to give. However, he also took note that the feelings he has for Tobias are so much more different than the girl before. He continued to keep all of this to himself for the time being, as he didn't want to risk possibly overwhelming and scaring off the young Octoling.

The deep panting coming from both Agents pulled them each from their thoughts and brought them back to the present as they worked on recovering the energy they spent. Connor was the first to have most of the feeling to his body return and control over his movements, so he set about cleaning them both and helped Agent Eight get dressed.

A comfortable silence was then shared between the two of them as they enjoyed each other's company and the pleasant afterglow from their joining as it slowly ebbed away. Tobias especially loved these secret moments and enjoyed the extra attention he received from Connor as all of his touches towards the younger were almost impossibly gentle, it were as if the Octoling were made of porcelain. This was only his second time ever getting to witness and experience this rare side of Agent Three, but was quick to put together that this just must be how Connor acted after having sex. Both times Connor acted this way towards him were right after they had sex. Just like how after Connor was finished with his tending to the Octoling, Tobias would instantly cuddle up to the older male. And sure enough, Tobias found himself becoming overwhelmed with a strong urge to be very close to the other.

He really was fortunate to be in a relationship with such an amazing and passionate person.

After replacing the soiled sheets with some spares he was able to find, Connor moved to settle next to the Octoling, smiling affectionately as said Agent slid up against the Inkling and nuzzled the side of his face against his wrinkled Hero Jacket. Wrapping his arms around the smaller body pressed against him, Connor covered them both with his cape as no blankets could be found upon actually looking around the room.  
Kissing each other tiredly but still with plenty of passion, the two soon dozed off into a slight slumber; Agent Three already seeing Agent Four with her knowing smirk.

***Timelapse***

Stretching with a satisfied smile, Agent Eight emerged from the back car first.

Lifting their heads up upon hearing the door open, the others all smiled as Marina waved, "Ah, Eight! Good morning! We were just about to come and wake you two up! We've arrived at a completely new location." she explained excitedly.

Agent Eight smiled, "Really? That's great! Maybe _here_ we can find something!" He shared in her excitement. Just then, Agent Three came from the room while yawning, looking rather well rested and satisfied himself. "Ah, Three. Marina said we've arrived at a new location." He filled in the Inkling.

After stretching, Agent Three blinked, "Really? Awesome! Maybe we'll find better leads around here." The instant the teal of Agent Three's eyes made contact with the bright green of Agent Four's, he immediately raised his hand up as she opened her mouth, interrupting her before she could even start; "Don't. Just... don't."

Closing her mouth and grinning widely, she rocked back and forth from her heels to her toes and watched him as he walked past her, humming the tune to Calamari Inkantation until at last, she could no longer resist the urge; "I _told_ him that lube would come in handy..." she whispered in a singsong tone only loud enough for him to hear her.

Everyone on the train jumped as they were startled suddenly, all heads turning in time to see the ghost of Agent Four floating away towards the nearest Spawn point after Agent Three splattered her with his Hero Shot, her muffled voice fading away the further she left; " _It was worth it!_ "

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: This was previously titled 'A Needed Break'. I've renamed it as it's now going to be continued into a chapter story.
> 
> This story was based off two pieces of fan art I stumbled across. I wrote it for my girlfriend using our characters and found it actually fun. I actually have an idea to continue this as a full-length story, starting from when Connor and Tobias first reach the surface to... well, whenever? But I guess it just depends on the feedback this 'first part' gets? I have several other Splatoon fanfics in the works, but this is the first 'published' one.


	2. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent Eight reaches the 'Promised Land', which ended up being the surface. His excitement slowly dwindles as his presence isn't really accepted at first and with the absence of Agent Three shortly right after reaching the surface, Agent Eight tries to find a place to start his new life with the help of the other Agents.

Connor, Agent Three and Tobias, Agent Eight... as odd of a couple as they are, they're happy. It wasn't easy for them to get to where they are now however... so maybe it's time to start from the beginning...

Inkopolis was saved and a new member of the team had been aquired. The day really had ended quite nicely.

Agent Eight... the only name he had to go by since none of his memories have yet to return to him, stared out over the shimmering surface of the ocean. In the distance, the large city he had been imagining being a part of only hours ago stood boldly against the horizon. He only hoped that he would be welcomed into the city.

He had been brought to where Cap'n Cuttlefish apparently lived, a small run down looking shack within an area he called 'Octo Canyon'. There, he was introduced to his granddaughters who he also found out were Agents One and Two. He excitedly spoke with them and explained that it was their music that had helped free his mind from the conditioned mind control his kind were seemingly put under. In the midst of speaking with them, he was also introduced to their newest recruit, Agent Four.

Agent Four introduced herself as Valerie Inessa Feetin; a young female Inkling with purple tentacles in the fresh new bob-cut like hairstyle and the brightest green eyes Agent Eight has ever seen. She was extremely nice and took a liking to the Octoling after learning he was not an enemy. She told Agent Eight she would help him with anything he needed, and felt that they were going to become good friends.

The three Agents worked together to try and help Agent Eight get a place of his own within the city, the absence of Agent Three saddening the Octoling greatly. He hadn't been able to really even talk with the male Inkling after they returned to land before he left stating he had to take care of some things.

As he had feared though, his presence within the city was not fully accepted as he was turned away again and again. Despite being hurt by this, he couldn't bring himself to blame the Inklings. Cap'n Cuttlefish offered him a place within his small shack once he was able to expand it a bit, but Agent Eight insisted on not intruding.

This lead down to Callie, Marie and Valerie offering their own places. The Squid Sisters even offered to buy him his own place, but once again the Octoling had been shunned from all potential areas of living. Even the locations Pearl and Marina had offered despite the stars being the ones with the money to buy the property.

With heavy hearts, Agent Eight ultimately came to the decision to return to the Deepsea Metro station for the time being until the Cap'n had the remolding completed. And despite their good intentions, Callie and Valerie over whelmed the Octoling with their feverish and insistent pushing that he stay with one of them, which only fueled his choice to return underground.

He was extremely grateful for their kindness, but he didn't know any of them and felt insecure. He wanted to voice his idea of possibly staying with Agent Three, but considering he has yet to even _see_ the Inkling since coming to the city, he felt the Agent hated him for knocking him out when he had attacked.

Marie however had silently reached out to Agent Three and explained to him the situation. Once he found out the Octoling believed he hated him for what had happened between them and that he was returning underground, Agent Three stopped everything he was doing and headed straight for Cuttlefish's cabin.

Which is where this story truly begins;

Agent Eight sat alone on the small bed, idly toying with the yellow bracelet still snapped in place around his left wrist. He didn't want to go back, but what choice did he have? He could hear the others just outside the tiny room discussing possible alternatives from him having to leave. He was being nothing but trouble for the Inklings, so the least he could do is give them their space back at least until the renovations to the cabin were completed.

The curtain that separated the small bedroom from the living room shifted as Agent Four came in with a small smile on her face. "Hey. So... you still thinking about going back?"

"I have really no choice." he chuckled sadly.

"Mmm. Well, we've all been talking about it. We're just waiting for one more member to show up to include their thoughts." She explained while taking a seat next to the Octoling.

Agent Eight looked over at her. "Another member?"

She nodded, her shoulder length tentacles swaying from the motion despite the brightly glowing Hero Headphones she wore, "Yeup! Marie was able to get into contact with Agent Three. He's on his way here now."

"A-Agent Three??" Eight gasped while jumping to his feet.

Valerie tilted her head, "Yeah. Is... that a problem?" Agent Eight shook his head and sat back down without a word. She studied his features for a few moments, curious to know if something bad had happened between them because, to her, the young Octoling suddenly seemed rather afraid. She didn't really know the whole story behind Agent Eight and what happened, but she _did_ know that Agent Three had a big part of it. "Did... something happen with him?"

He jumped lightly, "What? No! W-why do you ask?"

"I don't know, you just seem more... on edge? Like you're scared of him."

"I'm certainly not scared of him. He saved me after all. It's just that, I'm afraid that... he must hate me seeing as how he left with out so much as a goodbye. And I don't know why but it hurts to think that he dislikes me. I mean, no offense please, I am truly grateful for all the help you have all given me but... I was kind of hoping that... if I had to stay with someone... maybe I could stay with _him_ for a while until I could get on my own. I can't explain why I feel comfortable thinking about him, considering we barely spoke to each other. I guess I just really want to get to know him?"

She smiled fondly and was about to tell him he should just asked him. She didn't get the chance however as Callie's loud and excited shout alerted them that Agent Three had arrived. "Sounds like he's here. Callie _always_ gets that excited to see any of us." She laughed while getting to her feet. "Come on, we'll go out together."

Agent Eight said nothing as he merely just nodded, feeling his hearts beginning to pound heavier. The two of them exited the room and joined the others in the now extremely crowded living room. Valerie had left the Octoling to go speak with Callie, leaving Agent Eight to take in the activity going on around him. Looking over at Cap'n Cuttlefish, his hearts seemed to have all skipped a beat as sitting next to the war veteran and engaging him in a conversation was a young, male Inkling of a darker skin tone than the rest of them and with bright yellow tentacles pulled back in a ponytail. 

His skin tone and hair color alone reminded him instantly of Agent Three, but he was not wearing the Agent's gear. Instead of the yellow reflective jacket, her wore the Toni K. Baseball Jersey, Red Hi-Tops in place of the black and yellow Hero Runners, and taking the place of the Hero Headset, a fresh pair of Octoglasses rest on the top of his head. Agent Eight had taken the liberty of learning as much as he could while out in the city with the other Agents, so he was able to quickly recognize the Inkling's gear.

Watching as he took another sip of his kelp green tea that Marie had brought him, Agent Eight held his breath when the new Inkling lifted his head and turned towards him after Cap'n Cuttlefish noticed the Octoling's presence, the two of them having stopped their conversation.

The instant Agent Eight's pink eyes locked with the bright teal of the young Inkling he _knew_ it was him. This was Agent Three.

"Ahh-ha! There ya are, Eight! I was jus' tellin' Three here the what about." Cap'n Cuttlefish smiled beneath his beard and motioned to the Inkling sitting next to him. Eight felt a bit unnerved as Agent Three has _yet_ to take his eyes off of him.

Did he not trust him?

It was at that same instant he had that thought when Agent Three pushed himself to his feet and stepped over to him, a relieved smile coming to the Inkling's face; "I'm so glad I made it before you left! I'm sorry I just sorta... up and left. After everything that went on underground and with how long I had been 'missing', I needed to let my friends and family know I was safe. Then I got roped into doing some Ranked battles and... yeah." He explained in a hurried tone.

Agent Eight stared at him, unable to process everything that just happened. So Agent Three continued; "A-anyways, Marie filled me in with what all has been happening. Don't let those people get to you. Most Inklings are set in their ways and don't like change unless it's with fashion." He then blinked and held his hand out, "Oh, I'm Connor by the way. Connor Emerson Willhard. Also Agent Three."

Agent Eight looked down at the offered hand, his hearts beating faster as he took it in a handshake, the Inkling's hand was so soft. Connor. It had a nice sound to it. He then smiled sadly, "I'm... Eight..."

Connor's smile fell a little, "Your... memory still hasn't returned, huh? But... don't worry. I'm sure it will over time. Especially now that you're not having to constantly look out for yourself. You're safe now, Eight. No more tests. No more Sanitized Octolings. Just freedom." he encouraged with a warm smile.

"Thanks. But... I don't really have that here. The entire city has made sure to let me know that. That's why I was going to talk with C.Q. Cumber about possibly staying on the train for a bit." Eight frowned, his cheeks then flushing as he noticed they were _still_ holding hands from when they introduced each other. Taking his hand back, he chuckled nervously.

"We all offered him a place with us, but understandably he's on edge about it. He doesn't know us. And unfortunately, between Callie and Valerie scaring him, I doubt he's anxious to get to know us any time soon." Marie explained, her tone of voice having more emotion than her actual expression.

Both Callie and Valerie chuckled nervously as Connor narrowed his eyes at them. "Did you two at least appologize?"

"Of course!" both girls simultaneously exclaimed.

Connor then sighed and shook his head. Why was he not surprised?

Valerie took this moment and made a motion to gain Eight's attention, " _Psst! Hey, Eight! Ask him!_ " she hissed in a low whisper.

Agent Eight flushed and shook his head hastily however Agent Three was quick to catch on; "Ask me what?"

Agent Eight felt himself slightly panic. As Connor turned his attention on him, he felt his anxiety rising. "I... um, well... I was wondering if maybe, not to intrude or anything but... might I possibly stay... with _you_ until the renovations the Cap'n is working on are finished or at least until I'm able to get on my own place? _Please_? I-I don't really want to go back underground."

Valerie fist pumped the air in celebration at the Octoling being able to ask Connor. Connor on the other hand stared at him, teal eyes wide in surprise. Eight _knew_ this was a mistake and was about to apologize for the suggestion. The Inkling's expression then became very serious after he thought to himself for a moment, "Under _one_ condition."

Agent Eight blinked in shock. Wait... was he considering??

Connor then turned his full attention onto Valerie, pointing at her while his eyes narrowed; " _You_ don't drop by unannounced a million times just to hang out with him."

The Octoling was shocked by the sudden aggression that was just displayed but was then confused as Valerie merely laughed while rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "Aww, dang it... what about a half million times?" 

"Well, you can't beat that. One condition and it doesn't even have anything to do with him." Marie smirked.

Eight was still confused, "So wait... does this mean--?"

Connor turned away from Agent Four and smiled, "I was actually coming here with the intent of offering you to come crash with me if you'd like. You just beat me to it. And don't think you're intruding because you're not. Once Marie explained the entire situation, I really didn't need to think about the decision. You saved us all, Eight. If it weren't for you, none of us would be here right now."

The Octoling was filled with pure joy until Connor's last few words, causing him to shake his head. "Hardly! If _you_ hadn't come by and saved me and the Cap'n when you did then-"

"Ah, details." Connor interrupted him with a wave of his hand and laugh.

After spending a few more hours hanging out and catching up with everyone, Connor felt it best to take Eight to where he would be living with him for a bit, especially when he noticed the Octoling getting uncomfortable since they had moved the large group outside to have room and was being giving threatening glares from the captured D.J. Octavio from within the snow globe.

Before they had left, Connor thought he would try something crazy. He asked Valerie to keep Eight distracted while he approached the brooding Octavio, "Hey D.J."

Octavio narrowed his eyes at the Inkling, "What is it you want, Agent?" he spat.

Connor ignored the obvious attitude, "Are you a type of real leader caring enough to know all of his soldiers by name and rank?"

Octavio scoffed. "Of course I know all of my soldiers!"

Agent Three then pointed to Eight from over his shoulder with his thumb, "That Octoling over there. You know his name then, right?"

D.J. Octavio blinked and looked at where Three was pointing, seeing the young male Octoling speaking with The latest Agent that messed his plans up. Narrowing his eyes as the traitorous Octoling did hit recognition, he hummed. "Yes. He had a lot of promise. So close to becoming an Elite."

This had Connor's eyes opening wide. Agent Eight was almost promoted to an Elite? He could easily believe it though. "Please. Can you tell me his name? Or tell _him_ his name?" Octavio looked from the Octoling over to the Inkling in mild surprise and confusion. "Look... it's a long story, but he's forgotten _everything_."

"Hmm. Well in that case, it's a good thing he has you _Agents_ to help him."

Teal eyes narrowed, "You're really going to be that low?"

"He is no longer one of my own. He's your problem now." Octavio returned the Agent's glare with one of his own.

"And this is why your soldiers are leaving _you_ to join _us_. Enjoy your bubble." Connor sneered and turned on his heel. He knew Octavio was only acting like this due to his pride being permanently damaged, but it was still a degrading move.

Once they arrived at the tall apartment complex, Connor lead the way towards the elevators and pressed the button that said nine. He then chuckled and tried to ease the Octoling's obvious nerves, "Aww, I'm one floor above your number."

Agent Eight chuckled as he got what the Inkling had meant, feeling his nerves starting to settle. They've already come across a few of the the tenants that seem to know Connor and, despite the surprised looks he at first received, he wasn't shunned away from this place. He wondered why?

"And here we are." Connor announced, pulling Eight from his thoughts. He hadn't even noticed they had gotten off the elevator. Standing in front of a tan colored door with black numbers next to it that read '938', the Octoling watched as Connor slipped his house key into the door and unlocked it. Pushing the door open, the Inkling stepped aside to allow the Octoling to enter.

"Home sweet home..." he said in a tired tone.

Agent Eight slowly entered the room. It wasn't large but certainly not tiny, the entryway from the door lead to the open concept kitchen to the right and to the left was a door that was a spacious closet, inside of which was all of Connor's Turf War weapons and spare Ink Tanks. Straight ahead from the entryway was the living room with a glass sliding door that lead to a screened-in balcony. A grey couch sat against the wall and faced a 52 inch flat screen t.v. that sat atop a black wooden entertainment center. A black oval coffee table separated the couch and t.v. but still offered plenty of room to go around on either side.

Just past the kitchen was a short hall to the right that lead to the only bedroom and bathroom; the bedroom was on the left and the bathroom was across from it on the right.

Aside from the few pieces of furniture, the place was rather bare. Connor cleared his throat as he locked the door and removed his Red High-Tops, Agent Eight copying the motion and removing his black boots. "Yeah... Sorry it's kinda like a minimalist's dream home. I haven't really had much time to decorate since becoming an Agent."

Connor suddenly tensed up and held his breath when he felt a force throw itself against his chest, Agent Eight's arms wrapping tightly around the Inkling's back and holding him in a grateful hug while his chin rest against Connor's right shoulder; the Octoling was only taller than Connor by a couple inches.

"It's perfect. Thank you so much, Connor." Eight breathed, his body suddenly feeling overly exhausted as his fried nerves began to at last fully relax for the first time since he could even remember.

Connor said nothing for a few seconds as the shock he was in slowly wore off. Feeling his face flush and hearts beginning to pound as he raised his arms to at last return the embrace, he cleared his throat with a nervous chuckle. He couldn't explain why he was feeling this way, but he recognized the feeling and it confused him greatly.

He was becoming attracted to the Octoling.

_'It's a faze. It has to be. They say everyone gets their confusing same-sex crushes, right? This'll just pass. I'm sure it's just because of how cute and innocent he is. Wait... Okay, I just need to stop thinking. He needs help. And I'm here to help him.'_

What Connor didn't know until much later is that his feelings _weren't_ a faze and that this was only just the beginning.

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another chapter~ It's been so long since I've written I've missed it. Hope you all enjoyed this installment and I'll try to churn out updates as much as possible. I work in an ER and it's just now reaching Season for our location so I'm already exhausted lol. But if this story continues to have a lot of interest in it, I'll ensure a steady stream of updates! I'm not crying for comments or anything; just seeing the number of hits going up is enough to make me know people are interested. ;)  
>    
> Stay healthy and out of my ER~ !
> 
> Also, for anyone curious. Names and their definitions/origin;
> 
> Connor - _Ireland_ \- Much wanted; Strong Willed  
>  Emerson - _English_ \- Brave; Powerful  
>  Willhard - _England_ \- Resolute or Brave
> 
> Tobias - _Greek_ \- Goodness of God
> 
> Valerie - _English_ \- Strong; Valiant  
>  Inessa - _Russia_ \- Gentle; Pure  
>  Feetin - _Africa_ \- Clever; Smart


	3. Night Terrors and Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent Eight, slowly regaining his memories is also developing one of the worst kinds of nightmares one can suffer from. Between suffering frightening Night Terrors nearly every night and his steadily growing confusing feelings for his Inkling teammate, Eight finds himself struggling to find a light to reach for as he continues fighting to regain his memories and begins to fear his own past.

It has now been nearly two weeks since the liberated Octoling reached the surface. As he was shown around the city with Connor, he had began to notice an increase in other Octolings that must've been freed by the magical melody of the Calamari Inkantation. Since more and more have begun to populate the city, Agent Eight has noticed that the Inklings were slowly appearing to be more accepting of the new arrivals.

He himself has noticed a difference in the way he's treated. When Connor first took him out shopping the morning after his first night with him, most of the shops were hesitant on allowing him inside. Once Connor was able to convince them that he was with him, the owners were a little less reluctant.

Now, Eight can walk into the stores without Connor being with him. And he's greeted with warm smiles. 

The first time Connor took him to do Turf War was almost a disaster. Several times Eight had become the soul target of the entire apposing team which for the first few matches he and Connor were luckily paired together. Connor always made sure to stay close by Eight, though the Octoling needed anything but protection.

He had chosen to use the N-Zap 89 and certainly more than proved he knew his way or two around the weapon. His expertise in the weapon and many others really didn't come as a surprise to Connor seeing as he had at least found out Agent Eight was close to being promoted to an Elite Octoling.

And after he proved himself a worthy opponent and trustworthy teammate, Eight actually began getting contact and friend requests from many Inklings and Octolings they battled.

Despite his life beginning to finally brighten up, he still couldn't help but think back to all those Octarians that were still underground Sanitized. There _has_ to be some way to reverse the effects.

Every night his dreams were plagued with horrific nightmares and flashbacks. When he moved in, Connor insisted he take his bed until they could work around getting another one or something. The Inkling took to the couch.

Every night, Connor would wake to Eight screaming and thrashing around in his sleep. Tonight was no different except in the morning they were all going to meet up at the subway to return to the Deepsea Metro station and begin looking for clues to reverse what had been done to those trapped down there still.

Kicking the thin blanket off of him, Connor yawn while rubbing his eyes, quickly waking and making his way down the hall towards his room.

Watching the younger male beginning to thrash around on the mattress, the Inkling kneel on the bed and gently began to shake the sleeping Agent in an attempt to waken him from his nightmare; "Eight. Hey, wake up. You're having another bad dre-ahh!" he yelped as he recoiled away from the Octoling, both his hands cupping his left check as it throbbed from the hard punch he just received.

At the pained cry of the Inkling, Agent Eight snapped awake and bolted upright, sweat pouring down his temples as he looked around the room wildly. Seeing the Inkling sitting on the edge of the bed hunched over and with his back towards him, Eight gasped while reaching a hand out to touch his shoulder, "C-Connor? What is wrong?"

"You were... ah, man that smarted... You were having another nightmare. I thought I'd try to wake you up from it but that proved to have not been a good idea apparently." he forced a chuckle while massaging his aching cheek.

Pink eyes opened wide in horror; "W-what did I do?"

"Look. It's _not_ your fault, Eight. Alright?" The Inkling reassured before turning to face him with a smile, already feeling his cheek beginning to swell.

Eight gasped and covered his mouth, guilt flooding his body. "I... I'm so sorry, Connor! This was a mistake... I shouldn't have come here." He moved to get out of the bed but was stopped by a firm grasp around his wrist.

"It wasn't a mistake. If anyone made a mistake it was me just now. Look, I've been talking with Marie and Marina. Eight, these aren't normal nightmares you're having. You're suffering from something called Night Terrors. I did my research and even learned that those having an episode may become aggressive but I didn't take it to heart." he then laughed while rubbing his cheek. "Hell of a punch you've got there. Should've just done that in the beginning when I was being controlled versus actually fighting." he tried to joke.

Agent Eight felt his eyes beginning to burn as his body trembled, the Inkling's attempt to add humor into the situation did little to ease him. "I'm a danger to you even when I sleep..."

"No, Eight you're not. Look, you went through pure hell while down there. Those tests... having to fight for life against your own kind... on top of not having any memory. The stress and trauma you've been through is highly the likely cause of your Night Terrors." Connor explained with a warm smile. Looking over at the clock on his nightstand, he saw that it was already almost five in the morning. They agreed to meet up at the station by seven.

"Hey, you hungry? I'll make us some breakfast." Connor offered to change the subject. Leaving before Eight could give him an answer, the Octoling remained quiet as he fisted the deep blue comforter.

About twenty minutes later, Connor had two plates set up on the breakfast bar along side two glasses of juice. Making sure everything was perfect for some strange reason, Connor smiled and pulled the bar stool out for Eight when the tired Octoling finally emerged from the room. "Here, have a seat."

"Thanks." Eight smiled shyly while climbing into the offered stool. He felt his face flush slightly as Connor joined him rather closely.

The two ate together in a comfortable silence, Connor not asking Eight about his dreams and Eight grateful for it.

***Time lapse***

It was now seven fifteen in the morning, and everyone was present and dressed in their gear. Eight chose to keep wearing the black two piece outfit he woke up in and first explored the Deepsea Metro station in. The other Agents offered him his own Hero gear that was similar to Agent Three's but the Octoling politely declined.

He felt comfortable in these clothes plus he rather liked the way he looked. It also may have been him but he could've sworn he caught Agent Three looking at him in _more_ than just a friendly glance.

"He's totally checking you out." Agent Four piped up, holding her Hero Dualies loosely in her hands so she could effortlessly twirl them around.

"W-what!?" Eight nearly choked.

"Don't be so modest. Show your stuff off! You look hot in that outfit and clearly I'm not the only one who thinks that if Agent Three keeps checking you out." she winked.

"A-Agent Four... as much as I am flattered by your... _compliments_ , I highly doubt Agent Three is... checking me out. He's just worried about me is all. I had another bad episode last night." Agent Eight frowned while slumping more into the uncomfortable train seat.

"We can see that..." she hinted to the male Inkling's by now nicely swollen cheek.

Eight groaned while burying his face in his hands, "I can't believe I punched him."

Agent Four smiled and patted his back, "Look on the bright side, at least you know you can handle him should you two ever get into a fight."

Peeking out through his slightly parted fingers, Eight gave Four an unamused stare before finally sighing and sitting upright.

The time they spent each day returning underground to continue where they left off the day before stretched longer and longer until at last nearly a week in Agents Three, Four and Eight found themselves spending an entire twenty-four hours straight.

"Alright, it's break time you three. You're going to get yourselves killed by how tired you are." Marina smiled while asking C.Q. Cumber to return them to the main station so they could return to the surface.

As the train slowed upon reaching their destination, Eight stretched his arms over his head while curving his back, feeling the blood flowing through out his body and causing him to moan.

Agent Three had been eyeing him and as he watched him stretching, he couldn't help himself as his teal eyes automatically trailed down the Octoling's exposed creamy skin across his stomach as he arched his back to stretch his chest out. Feeling his face and ears growing hot, he quickly swallowed and turned away, his Hero Headset doing nothing to block out the soft satisfied moan that came from the Octoling. _'What is wrong with me??'_

Once back to the surface, Agent Eight stopped and looked up towards the sky, his pink tentacle instinctively curling closer to his forehead in a protective curl. 

Seeing his behavior had Agent Three pausing, "What's wrong, Eight?"

"A storm is coming." he whispered.

"Really?" To help confirm the Octoling's statement, Three took his phone out and pulled up the weather. Sure enough, a nasty looking storm was brewing just outside the city limits and that their section of Inkopolis was now in a severe thunderstorm warning. "Wow... how did you know? I can't even feel the change in temperature yet."

"When I was a soldier... they trained us to become very in-tuned with nature. To always know what the weather is doing to avoid being caught off guard." Eight whispered in an unsure tone, his brows furrowed in confusion as the fragmented memory came to him as he spoke.

"Eight! You remembered something!" Three exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah... about the weather." the Octoling tried to avoid pouting.

"Still, it's something. Come on, let's head home. I can feel the change in air now." The instant he said that, a low rumble of thunder confirmed the approaching storm was nearly upon them.

Reaching the apartment just as heavy raindrops began pelting the dry earth, both Agents removed their shoes at the doorway and moved into the living room. After removing his Hero gear, Connor placed the Headset in his drawer while taking his jacket and the cape he's grown fond of to the end of the hall that opened into a small laundry room that Eight had missed seeing the first time he entered the place.

Opening the door and standing in nothing but his black shorts, Connor called out to the Octoling, "Hey, Eight. Wanna hand me your clothes, I'll wash them."

"Thank you, Connor." Eight smiled while stripping down to nothing but his black underwear, causing Connor to flush and quickly look away.

This isn't the first time Eight has freely stripped to his underwear right before Connor. Once the Inkling had questioned him about his apparent lack of privacy, Eight simply explained that being a soldier for Octavio, males and females really didn't have much time to consider the luxury of privacy. So often times at their bases, male and female Octolings would strip and shower together with little concern.

Connor was happy for Eight that he was slowly getting his memories back, but he was also a little concerned that so far they've been nothing but during his time as a conditioned soldier.

"Connor?"

The Inkling jumped at the closeness of Eight voice as well as a clap of thunder. "Y-yes, Eight?"

"I had asked if it is alright that I may take a shower?" Eight asked with concern in his eyes.

"Oh, s-sorry. I was lost in thought. You live here too now, you don't need to ask." He chuckled while placing the clothing in the machine.

Eight flushed in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his neck, "I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to go first."

Closing the machine and starting the load, Connor smiled and turned the light off in the small room. "I'll take one after you. While you're cleaning up, I'll make us something to eat." Walking past the Octoling and entering the kitchen, Eight watched him and found himself staring at the Inkling's back.

Located on Connor's right side and just below his shoulder, standing out brightly against his dark skin complexion was a jagged white scar that since the first time Eight saw it, was dying to know about it. But he's only been rooming with Connor for two weeks... he felt it was way to early to ask about something that caused such permanent damage.

Once in the bathroom, he quickly removed his underwear and stepped into the tub, closing the curtain and making his selection. Since water was harmful to them and Inklings alike, their showering systems consist of specially formulated ink that is diluted with cleanser to the thickness that it ran like colored water.

Choosing pink due to his natural color, Eight sighted happily as the warm 'water' sprayed down on him. His brain may have forgotten his time as a soldier, but his body certainly didn't; he had himself perfectly clean within seven minutes. But he didn't want to get out of the shower just yet. It felt too good and was drowning out the raging storm outside.

As he stood with his back towards the spray, he allowed his mind to wander back to Connor. There was nothing he could do to thank the Inkling enough for being so kind. Any of them really. And for Connor to be so patient and understanding with him even after all the trouble his caused him. At least the swelling to his cheek had finally gone down...

The longer he stood there thinking about the male Inkling Agent, Eight took notice of his body seeming to be responding to his thoughts. A sudden wave of different emotions crashed over Eight ranging from confusion, horror and embarrassment, causing him to panic and quickly turn the dial to make the liquid as cold as possible.

Getting himself under control, he finished up and turned the 'water' off. Quickly toweling himself off, he left the bathroom with the towel around his waist and went into Connor's room to retrieve the white, button up dress shirt he became fond of sleeping in. It was over sized but super comfortable. Putting it on and slipping on a clean pair of black underwear, Eight sighed while looking himself in the mirror.

Why does he have to keep getting these thoughts and feelings about Connor? The last thing he wants to do is do something stupid and ruin their friendship. "Keep it together... I'm sure it's just because he's being so kind to me, it's causing me to become attracted to him. As long as I just keep my distance and push these feelings down, I'm certain they'll fade." he whispered to himself.

Upon smelling something delicious beginning to fill the air, Eight followed the aroma into the kitchen where Connor was stirring pasta.

Still wearing nothing but his black shorts...

Too transfixed by the way Connor's hips were bouncing in a rhythm to a ghost song, Eight finally caught up with his surroundings and actually heard music playing softly from Connor's phone. He didn't recognize the song nor the language the male was singing in, but he certainly liked the beat.

And the private show he was being given.

"What band is that?"

The scream... that came from Connor's lips...! Agent Eight doubled over against the breakfast bar, tears threatening his eyes as he laughed. "Oh my...! Connor! I am so sorry, I thought you heard me coming out here!"

The Inkling glared at Eight, his hearts slowly returning to their normal beats as he calmed from being startled. Clearing his throat, he lowered the music's volume and began stiring the pasta once more. "It's from an app that's becoming rather popular these days. There's a group of artists that are actually able to dig up and perfectly restore music from the era of the humans." Connor explained, missing the way Eight shuddered at the mention of 'humans' due to what he had been put through by Tartar. "They also try to translate as much of their songs to be included so you're able to read them and understand what the song is about. This particular song from what they translated is called Frame Of Mind."

"Their music... it's not much different from ours. The beat I mean." Eight focused on the beat of the song, feeling his body wanting to start swaying.

"Here's the translated lyrics if you want to know what the song is about." Connor flipped through his phone before passing the small device to the Octoling. Turning back towards the pot, he added after a moment of just the music playing, "It made me think of you."

Eight blinked and looked up at Connor's back, not even seeing the scar but just the Inkling himself. Feeling himself flushing, he cleared his throat and chuckled, "Yeah... this does sound like me right about now."

Finishing up their late dinner, Connor quickly excused himself to take a quick shower before eating but insisted Eight not wait for him if he were hungry.

As Connor showered, Eight sat on the stool, his pasta forgotten as he kept replaying the song and reading the lyrics with the human singing. His hearts all skipped a beat as his pink eyes constantly fell onto several particular paragraphs of the song, feeling his body heating up and hearts now fluttering faster as he remembered Connor saying it made him think of him;

_Right here in my arms_  
Away from all harm  
You'll be safe from all the flares  
Although I know you don't care 

_Instead, you can always stay_  
We can wait right here and play  
Until somehow you can find  
A slightly better frame of mind 

_But always know that you'll be safe_  
I'll be here throughout your days  
Come find me and we will play 

"This is going to be harder than I thought..." Eight sighed to himself as he thought back to what he had just told himself in the bedroom.

***Time Lapse***

Music away and food finished, Eight sat on the cough playing on his phone while Connor sat at the bar on his laptop. He had been digging around on different sights provided to him by Marina to help her search them for any information on Eight. The storm outside was still raging on, the wind howling as the rain beat against the glass of the windows and doors to the balcony. 

Not having heard any sounds coming from the Inkling's keyboard for a while, Eight lifted his head and smiled sadly.

Connor had pushed the laptop to the side and folded his arms, resting his head down on them and passing out. His yellow tentacles had been kept lose after his shower and were tucked comfortably around his face. Getting to his feet and bringing the violet blanket with him he had been using to cover himself, Eight draped the blanket over the resting Inkling's shoulders.

Without even thinking, he slowly bent over with his eyes closed and lips slightly puckered. Before he was able to place a chaste kiss to the top of the Inkling's head, Eight froze with his eyes snapping wide open. Recoiling back as if the sleeping Agent were about to attack him, Eight shook his head and stormed off to the bedroom, too angry with himself to safely move the other to the couch.

**~~~**

Between the loud clap of thunder and almost blood curdling scream echoing down the hall and from his bedroom, Connor bolted awake and nearly fell off the stool. His sleep deprived mind had him instinctively going to his gear closet and pulling out his Hero Shot replica (he chooses to leave the real weapon safely with the Cap'n) and stumbling towards his room, waking up more and more with each step.

Lightning flashed and lit the entire living room up though Connor needed no help from it as he knew his apartment by heart and his eyes were well adjusted to the darkness. With quick steps, he was now standing in the doorway to his bedroom, weapon drawn and ready to use the reserved ink within the weapon to attack whatever was hurting Eight.

Thrashing back and forth on his bed and becoming engulfed by the blanket and sheets, Agent Eight was not being attacked but instead suffering from what Connor guessed to be his worst night terror yet. Cursing at the situation and placing his weapon down on the nightstand, the Inkling quickly thought of what to do. With no other better ideas popping into his head, he slowly began climbing into the bed and under the covers as he carefully untangled the Octoling.

Managing to duck in time to avoid as Eight swung his fist, Connor began whispering to him while at the same time slowly reaching for him. Upon managing to make actual contact as his fingertips rested against the Octoling's shoulder, Connor took the lack of violence as a cue to keep going. Continuing with his tender words, the Inkling took the restless Agent in his arms. "Shh... Eight. You're safe now. I won't let anyone or anything bring harm to you again... Please, calm down."

He softly yelped in surprise and tensed up as Eight suddenly lunged at him. But much to his surprise, it wasn't an attempt to attack him.

Agent Eight had snuggled almost impossibly close to him, leaving no space between their bodies as he moved in his sleep to tuck his head under the Inkling's chin, subconsciously minding his sensitive suckers.

Connor didn't move. He didn't dare _breathe_. Feeling his hearts beginning to pound against his chest was beginning to make him light headed as he waited to see what would happen next. As time passed, he felt Eight slowly relaxing against him, which in turn caused him wrap his arms around the younger male's thin frame and pull him closer towards him.

Fatigue hitting him now that Eight had settled down, Connor yawned as his eyelids grew heavier until at last he could no longer stay awake. Eyes fluttering closed, Connor fell asleep with the Octoling still safely in his arms, the rage of the storm not even able to stir them as they slept.

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the long chapter. I'm remembering I have a bad habit of doing that...
> 
> Here's the song Connor was listening to;
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCD2tB1qILc
> 
> And the lyrics to it;
> 
> https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107859482129/


	4. My Name is Tobias

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After suffering a nightmare that contained a tragic memory, Agent Eight wakes to find himself safely held in the arms of Connor. Having some time to himself as the Inkling continued to slumber, Eight analyzes what he remembers of the dream. The one good thing that came from it; He remembers his name. The one bad thing; He's now filled with great remorse for how he felt towards Agent Three back then, and how he had accused him for the murder of a friend.

The warm early morning sun beaming in through the curtain caused Agent Eight to stir in his slumber. Groaning lightly as he squeezed his already closed eyes tighter, he wiggled more into the warmth that was surrounding him, nuzzling his nose and right cheek into something soft. Tired brain slowly starting to wake up, it eventually registered that there shouldn't _be_ anything soft and this warm directly in front of him.

With much reluctance, pink eyes were slowly revealed as eyelids fluttered open. The sight before him however had him instantly awake and choking on air.

Lying on his side and facing him was none other than Agent Three, with his _arms_ wrapped securely around Eight's waist and arms. He was still sound asleep by the looks and sounds of it.

Eight immediately began wracking through his brain, trying to remember what happened last night. Nothing out of the ordinary. They came home, had dinner, took separate showers and said their good-nights. Well, okay... they didn't say their good-nights because Connor had fallen asleep at the breakfast bar. Regardless, Eight distinctively remembers going to bed alone. His face flushed even brighter as Connor pulled him closer into his bare chest, nuzzling his left cheek against the soft side of Eight's smooth tentacle with a small smile coming to his lips.

Seeing as how he wasn't going to be getting out of bed anytime soon(of course, not that he _wanted_ to), Eight remained still and watched Connor sleep, committing every little detail to memory.

Even in his sleep, the Octoling couldn't help but think about how attractive he was. _'Here I go again... but I can't help it.'_ he sighed to himself. Suddenly, he began thinking back to his dream, worrying his lower lip between sharp teeth as figments off the nightmare flashed across his brain.

The key factor that he remembers is he was alone with a female Octoling;

_The two of them huddled together shoulder to shoulder as they remained silent. Blue ink covered the entire area as a result of the Agent they were fighting coming out the victor. They remained still, waiting to see if the cost was clear._

_The female beside him caught movement and nudged his side gently, nodding with her head in the direction. They both looked around the corner, they Octarian goggles providing them with a clear vision despite the hazy atmosphere. He held his breath and she tensed up when they saw the Agent scoping the area to ensure it was clear before quickly moving on towards the next area that contained the Minnie Zapfish._

_"We can't let him get another one." the female by his side whispered angrily before gripping her Octoshot tightly and dashing out from their cover and running after the Inkling._

_"Wait, Sasha!!" he called out, running after her._

_There was then a sudden loud crash, the ground beneath the female Octoling giving way and caving in as the earth opened up into a massive sinkhole. She screamed as she fell, calling out to her friend; "Tobias!!"_

_Just as he reached the sinkhole that had appeared beneath Sasha, he saw her holding onto a broken pipe for dear life. "Sasha!! Super jump to me!!"_

_"I... I can't, I'm too tired. I can... barely hang on..." she gasped, feeling her grip on the busted pipe slipping. She glanced down, tears stinging her eyes behind her goggles as even with her headgear, she couldn't see the bottom to the hole._

_Just then, a blue blur had Super jumped over to her. Both Octolings stared in horror as now standing on the pipeline and staring down at the struggling Octoling was the male Agent they thought had left._

_'Dammit! He must've heard the crash and her scream so came back.' the male Octoling thought bitterly to himself while gritting his teeth as he watched helplessly from behind a pillar._

Agent Eight opened his eyes, feeling his chest aching as he tried to remember why that girl was so special to him. They were... friends, he thinks from childhood. He then looked back at Connor's sleeping face.

So... he had come across Connor before... while he was still conditioned to fight for Octavio. He just forgot up until now. Memories of having great hatred for the Agent caused his hearts to sting with heavy remorse. They were all so conditioned to believe the Inklings were evil. But his dream... he remembered the last part so perfectly-and now having a clear mind... it made him **sick** ;

_Sasha stared up at the blue Inkling standing above her, her eyes open wide in fear but her goggles prevented her enemy from seeing. She held the pipe with her right hand while her left still kept a grip on her weapon._

_The male Octoling saw the Inkling Agent saying something to Sasha before kneeling down, at the time his obediently trained mind seeing nothing but an enemy about to take advantage of a downed opponent. He then watched as the Agent sat his weapon down beside himself and leaned over the edge, dangerously stretching his arm and holding his hand out to the Octoling. He could see they were talking, most likely arguing as the Agent began looking more and more frustrated as he kept gesturing for her to take his outstretched hand. 'How low of an Inkling to attempt such a trick!' the male Octoling sneared as he tried to find a way to sneak over and take out the Agent and save his friend._

_She refused the Agent's hand, and instead raised her weapon at his face and without hesitance pulled the trigger and fired several shots of magenta ink as she screamed; "Die, filthy Inkling!!". He heard the Agent shout out in surprise and watched him recoil backwards with enough force to fall backwards on his backside. Because of the sudden attack she did, the last of her strength gave out and her grip was lost, the female Octoling shouting as she fell into the blackness of the sinkhole._

Agent Eight felt his eyes burning. Agent Three... _Connor_... he had tried to _save_ her, despite the risk that she could've very well had grabbed his hand and yanked him over the edge. But they were all so blinded they couldn't see it. And he also now remembers desiring revenge on the Agent because back then, he believed _he_ had caused her to fall to her death. Nausea rose within him as he could clearly remember the hatred he harbored towards the man lying so peacefully before him, how he would daydream killing him in the most brutal ways. "I'm... I'm so sorry." he whispered in a broken tone.

His soft voice caused Connor to at last stir, teal eyes soon looking back at him as the Inkling woke. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Connor smiled warmly, a dark flush shading his cheeks as he pulled his arms free from the Octoling, "Ah... sorry about that. Good morning, by the way. How... did you sleep?"

Agent Eight stared at him, not saying anything or even blinking as he continued pushing through all the new information still assaulting his mind at once.

Connor began to worry that the Octoling was about to freak out on him, so he quickly set out to explain himself; "You were having a really bad nightmare last night. I didn't know any other way to try to wake you or calm you down. So, on a crazy whim, I climbed in the bed. But... you calmed right down! In fact, that was the most peaceful I've ever seen you sleep, Eight."

 _Still_ he said nothing as pink remained locked with teal, the Octoling's expression unreadable.

"E-Eight? Are you alright? I-I'm sorry if I crossed any bounder--"

"Tobias."

Connor blinked, confusion very evident on his face as he was interrupted. "What?"

Eight suddenly smiled the brightest smile the Inkling has ever seen-one of pure joy and happiness; "My name, Connor. It's Tobias."

Connor immediately pushed himself into a sitting position, staring wide eyed at the young Octoling who was also, though more slowly, sitting up; still smiling widely. "W-when did you...?"

Tobias' smile weakened minutely; "My dream..."

Connor, despite being overly thrilled for the younger Agent having remembered his name at last, kept a concerned face as he smiled lightly, "Do you... wish to talk about it?"

Tobias slowly shook his head, "N-no. Not right now, if that's alright, Connor."

"Hey, of course it's alright. Tobias... I like it." And he really did. It was so unusual and different but fit him so well.

The two of them remained quiet for a few seconds, smiling at each other. When Tobias' gaze broke free from Connor's to trail down and stare at the Inkling's lips, that's when the older male cleared his throat and pushed himself out of the bed. "So, shall I make us a special breakfast to celebrate?"

Tobias, face flushed as he realized he had been staring at Connor's mouth, got to his feet as well and stretched, randomly wondering what it must've felt like for human's when they would stretch and supposedly feel their bones popping back into place. Apparently, it felt good from what he remembers being taught... another random memory. "That would be great."

While walking out of the bedroom, Connor was stretching his arms over his head, once again allowing Tobias to see the scar he was so curious to know about.

_'Maybe I'll ask Valerie about it...'_

**~~~**

"Gah! Where are those two? They were so excited about telling me something but they're both late." Valerie sighed while setting her phone down. She was sitting at one of the tables by Crusty Sean's food truck in the Square, dressed in her normal turfing gear which consisted of her Black FishFry Bandanna, Rain-Day Tee with long shorts and a skirt, and her favorite shoes, Black Dakroniks. Taking a long sip from her smoothie, she looked up upon hearing Agent Eight calling out to her.

Seeing Eight and Connor approaching her, she smiled and waved to them. Connor was wearing his same gear as when Agent Eight first met him at Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack and Eight was wearing a FishFry Visor, the ever so comfortable looking Short Knit Layers, and for his shoes he wore the Truffle Canvas Hi-Tops. _'How cute! They're both wearing Hi-Tops!'_ Valerie giggled to herself. "Hey boys! What kept you?"

"Sorry, we had a run-in with some squids we turfed with yesterday and they wanted to swap numbers. Then we all started talking." Eight explained while taking a seat next to Valerie. Connor sat next to the Octoling which had him sitting across from Valerie.

"That's alright! I wasn't waiting long. So, what's the news that you're super excited to tell me?" She leaned over the table, eyes wide as well as her smile.

Eight looked over at Connor, smiling while the male Inkling grinned, "Valerie. I would like to introduce you to our Agent Eight," he pointed to the young Octoling. Pausing for effect rewarded him greatly as the girl stared at him like he had lost his mind. "Valerie, meet Tobias."

Tobias grinned brightly before he and Connor both nearly jumped out of their skins. Valerie had screamed loudly while jumping to her feet, throwing herself at the startled Octoling and wrapping her arms tightly around him. "You remembered your name!!"

Inklings and Octolings alike paused in their activities to look over and see what was going on, some laughing while others shook their heads and returned to what they were doing.

Connor felt helpless as he sat aside and watched his friend being smothered, Tobias' face and ears flushing as he could feel the Inkling girl's modest sized breasts squishing against his chest. "V-Val... I... I can't breathe..." he managed to choke out.

"Oh, shit! Sorry!" she gasped and released her hold on him. "I'm just so excited!!"

Taking in a deep breath, Tobias smiled weakly, "T-thank you. I'm happy I was finally able to remember it."

"So what happened for you _to_ remember it?" she inquired while sitting back down in her seat.

Both males frowned, Connor looking to the side as Tobias answered softly; "I... had another nightmare last night."

Valerie's smile faded as the mood darkened. Tobias' nightmares were always rough, at least the ones he was willing to share with them. He kept most of them to himself for the time being. She didn't ask any more about it, however her green eyes immediately honed in on Connor, inspecting his entire being for any marks.

Connor, feeling a pair of eyes examining him so intently, looked up to see Valerie studying him. He narrowed his eyes, "Can I help you?"

"Nope." She smiled.

Connor caught on to what she was looking for and sighed, "I'm fine, Val. That's... another thing we, well mainly Tobias, wanted to tell you."

"What is it?"

Teal eyes glanced over to Tobias, Connor silently letting the Octoling know it was all up to him to explain; "Well, Connor heard me screaming. He said that, instead of trying to wake me up he... he climbed in the bed with me."

It took all of her will power to keep from grinning like an idiot. Connor was looking off to the side again, his dark skin appearing darker around his cheeks and ears as he felt his temperature rising at the memory. Tobias' face was flushing as he continued; "He said I had calmed right down. And honestly, I woke up this morning feeling the greatest that I can remember."

Valerie nodded her head and leaned back, eyes closing. "Well, then you two just need to get over bounderies and sleep together."

Tobias went pure red in the face while Connor's darkened to more of a chocolate given his skin tone, "What!?!" the Inkling snapped.

As much as she would've loved to mess with Connor, she felt she was on to something big; "Think about it. Nearly every night Tobi slept alone, he's had night terrors, yes?" Connor calmed down as he continued to listen, seeing her seeming to have a point while Tobias simply blinked at the nickname he was just given. "The one time he sleeps _not_ alone and he has the best rest _and_ remembered something really important! What I'm trying to say is, try sleeping together again. Maybe while having another body with him, he's subconsciously aware that he's not alone and is able to relax? His mental and emotional states of mind are fragile right now. Maybe, Tobias just needs the comfort of another body? Someone he trusts greatly?"

Tobias and Connor just stared at her with wide eyes. "Holy shit, I didn't think you could actually be capable of being serious and make such an observant suggestion." Connor broke the silence, surprising the Octoling as he never really hears Connor swear that often.

Valeria grinned, "I know! I surprise myself sometimes."

Tobias at first didn't understand the relationship between Agents Three and Four. Connor seemed borderline hateful of Valerie, while Valerie teases him relentlessly. Within these two weeks though, he's learned that because they were so opposite of each other, their personalities often clashed. But not always in a bad way. They balanced each other, and the few times when their personalities were in sync, Tobias would be willing to bet his freedom that they were a couple.

And every time he thought that, he couldn't help the small simmer of jealousy that would stir deeply within him. Of course, he now knows better than to even _joke_ about them being into each other. Once at lunch with everyone, Callie had jokingly said they should just hook up already;

Valerie nearly died because she couldn't breath she was laughing so hard and Connor splatted the pop-star.

"So, that's it for exciting new news?" Valerie asked with wide,hopeful eyes.

Connor leaned away, feeling creeped out; "What else could you want?"

"Oh, nothing..." she sighed though in a singsong tone.

Suddenly, Valerie's phone went off. Looking at the screen and reading the text, she grabbed her smoothie and got to her feet, "Well, that's my team. They wanna do a Rank match real quick. It was good hanging with you guys. And Tobi, I'm so happy you're getting your memories back."

"Thanks. I am too."

With a wave and a smile, Valerie excused herself and ran towards the tower where matches were held.

Later that night, Connor awkwardly approached Tobias; "So... we wanna actually put her theory to the test tonight?"

Tobias turned to Connor, cheeks heating up slightly; "If... you're comfortable with it. In theory, it's a good idea she has. Plus, I'm sure you miss your bed." he tried joking.

Connor smiled, "I just don't want you to feel forced. It was a suggestion, not an order."

"I know. I'm... actually curious to see if it works."

Connor took a quiet breath and nodded, leading the way to his bedroom. To try and help each other be less awkward, Connor put on a black muscle shirt along with his sleep shorts while Tobias wore a white tee shirt and grey sleep pants. After climbing under the dark blue comforter, Connor turned the light off.

The two of them remained back to back, hearts pounding heavily as both males fought to control their confused emotions. Taking in a deep breath and inhaling Connor's scent from the sheets despite the Inkling having not slept in his own bed for the past two weeks(his scent must just come from the wash in general, he thought to himself), Tobias began calming down, his nerves settling down as the extra weight in the bed put his mind in a state of ease.

 _'I'm not alone.'_ he told himself mentally, sighing while closing his eyes. He suddenly became very tired. "Good-night, Connor... and thank you." he softly spoke.

"Good-night, Tobias. And, you're welcome." Connor replied, unsure what the younger male was thanking him for but left it alone. Feeling himself becoming more relaxed and exhausted, he yawned and slowly closed his eyes. The last thought he remembered having was praying that this works, and that the Octoling would finally have a full night, nightmare free.

To Be Continued....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chappy... sorry. I sorta churn these out in spurts. I'm also uploading this same story on my Wattpad account with drawings of scenes drawn by me(lol fails) so I also wait to post a new chapter until I at least have one piece of new art work to post. Below is a link to the same story only with pretty(pffft) pictures!
> 
> https://www.wattpad.com/628058989-splatoon-a-long-road-to-true-freedom-a-needed


	5. Tests and Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing on their quest to find new leads and clues on a possible 'cure' for those who were Sanitized, Tobias continues regaining his memories while Connor slowly remembers coming across the young Octoling before he had been set free from Octavio's conditioning. Both Agents however silently continue to fight with their steadily growing feelings for one another.

Agent Three continued to remain hidden in the shadows as Cap'n Cuttlefish confronted the lone Octoling. The male soldier was acting... peculiar. For starters, he was _talking_ to the Cap'n rather than shooting at him or trying to take him hostage. He also noticed that the young Octoling looked... lost. _'I'm sure it's just a trick.'_ Three reassured himself.

Suddenly, he was given his cue by the Cap'n, Super jumping to their location. Leaving behind a thin tail of blue ink as he jumped, Three landed gracefully between the Cap'n and Octoling. Teal eyes narrowed as the Hero Shot held tightly in his hands was raised though not fully aimed at the male before him.

The Octoling in question has lowered into a defensive pose, his lips parted and eyes hidden behind the Octoling goggles.

"A lone Octoling can only be up to no good! Get 'em Agent Three!!" Cap'n Cuttlefish called out.

Agent Three did as told, and lifted his weapon, pulling the trigger and firing blue ink at the Octoling male. He evaded the shots and ran, the Inkling Agent hot on his tail.

Connor slowly opened his eyes, brain still coming back into reality. Why did he dream of when he was sent after that Octoling? The warm sun beaming in through the curtains helped him fully wake up, allowing him to think more clearly and remember more detail. That Octoling... of course! He didn't know why it didn't register until just now. That Octoling was Agent Eight!

Connor gasped internally. Tobias! How did he sleep? He doesn't remember waking up to the younger male screaming or thrashing around. He attempted to roll over to face him since he was lying on his right side and had his back towards him but found couldn't move. A weight was holding him down around his stomach.

Confused as the more aware he became of his surroundings, he also felt the presence of someone _right_ behind him. Glancing down at his stomach, he felt his cheeks heat up as a pale arm was draped over him, and that his right arm was lying beside it, loosely holding the arm in place.

Swallowing thickly, he turned his head just enough to be able to see the cause of the close presence behind him.

Tobias... was _spooning_ Connor.

The Octoling's face was buried behind Connor's head, invading his space and sleeping soundly on the shared pillow. The more aware he became, the worse the situation got. Now he could feel the hot steady breaths of Agent Eight heating up the small tentacles that covered the nape of the Inkling's neck. He could also now tell there was no space between his back and Tobias' chest, or... Connor's backside and Tobias'... crotch.

Connor's breath hitched in his throat as his entire body flushed. Facing forward again, he contemplated on waking him. But then, he thought; Tobias was sound asleep. And he didn't wake up. At all... Valerie's theory worked! _'I can't wake him up. This is the most sleep the poor guy has gotten... He needs it more than I need my personal space.'_ Connor reasoned with himself.

Content with relaxing and listening to the Agent behind him sleeping, Connor's body suddenly jolted. Despite becoming aware of nearly everything about the situation, he had somehow missed a critical part.

His yellow tentacles were let loose like normal when he slept. However, he subconsciously always has them stay close to his face. He just now took the absence of his right tentacle. Focusing on the appendage in question, he now felt that it was gently pulled up above his head. What had caused him to jolt though was the warm, smooth and much thinner tentacle coiled securely around his thicker one.

Connor held his breath and slowly curled a little into himself, which of course didn't help because he only pushed back into Tobias, causing the Octoling to stir slightly and his pink tentacle to tighten its hold on his yellow one.

The invading tentacle then began to move, the tip curling and rubbing against the sensitive underside of the Inkling's tentacle, unintentionally moving to now stroke against the large sucker that, at least Connor knew for a fact was the case for Inklings, is hyper sensitive.

He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and whined in the back of his throat, his ankles crossing as his legs felt about ready to kick out.

 

He knew Tobias couldn't be doing this on purpose. Feeling his body starting to tremble as the Octoling's thin tentacle continued to rub against the quivering sucker, Connor began to gently nudge his shoulder against the still sleeping Agent.

Just as he had hoped, the motion was enough to cause Tobias to move away, his tentacle releasing Connor's and returning to it's place curled around his forehead as he rolled over to now be lying flat on his back.

Taking deep breaths to calm himself down, Connor slowly moved to sit up, the light blue blanket falling to land in his lap. He was happy the Octoling is sleeping, but he now wondered if Tobias was aware that he... cuddles in his sleep? Of course, Connor was no better the previous morning. He has also only just heard of Inkling's who suffer from a type of sleeping disorder where their tentacles move and act all on their own. Could Octolings suffer that too?

Regardless, he didn't want to freak out his new friend or mess up the discovered way the younger Agent could sleep soundly through out the whole night, Connor made the decision to keep what happened just now to himself.

Upon being fully freed he silently slipped free from the bed. Stretching while making his way into the kitchen, he barely had the ingredients out of the fridge needed for breakfast before Tobias was awake and standing behind the Inkling. "Good morning. I didn't wake you when getting up, did I?" Connor smiled.

"Mornin'... and no. I just sorta woke up."

"How did you sleep? You didn't wake up at all during the night."

Tobias blinked the sleep from his eyes before becoming aware of that fact. "Ohmygosh! You're right! I didn't have any nightmares!" he grinned widely, Connor finding it cute the way the Octoling's two sharp teeth stood out compared to the rest of his teeth that were flat.

"Huh... looks like Val was on to something after all. Did you have _any_ type of dreams?" he asked while preparing them both breakfast. He was hoping Tobias maybe had gotten a new memory or something.

The Octoling thought for a long moment before frowning with a shake of his head, "No... I think I literally just slept. No dreams."

"Hey, don't be so sad. It's a great thing that you were able to get some sleep. We all know you need it. Your memories will come back to you. Worry about your health too... stressing over how long it's taking to remember things won't do you any good." The Inkling smiled widely.

"I know. It's still just so frustrating." he sighed. Thanking Connor once the Inkling handed him a glass of juice, Tobias stared at the other for a long few moments, silently watching him cooking up some eggs with bacon. "Connor... what if... what if I'm a different person once I get my memories back?"

Connor paused mid-flip of an egg and looked over his shoulder, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know... It's just, lately I've been thinking about it. What if... what if I go back to the way I was _before_ hearing the Calamari Inkantation? W-what if I attack you in the middle of the night?!" He became more and more upset, his body beginning to tremble the more he dwelled on the dark thoughts.

Breakfast forgotten, Connor was suddenly behind the Octoling and without even thinking of his actions, pulled the distraught Agent into a tight embrace against his chest, holding him securely in place. "Don't think like that, Tobi. You know _damn_ well you'll never return to that way unless D.J. Octavio reconditions you. And I _promise_ you... I will _never_ allow that to happen. I kicked his ass once, and Val kicked his ass once. We'll both join up and put him in his place if he even thinks about trying to change you again." he whispered against the male's trembling pink tentacle as the appendage slowly moved seemingly on it's own to caress the Inkling's cheek, holding the older male's face close against the smooth side of the tentacle.

Tobias nearly felt dizzy from not only the close proximity between him and the male he was slowly growing attached to, but also the wave of relief that crashed over him at Connor's reassuring words. Smiling while his eyes lidded, he slightly nuzzled into Connor's chest, "Thank you, Connor."

"D-don't mention it."

After making sure the Octoling was calm and breakfast hadn't burned, they quickly ate before meeting up with the other Agents in the subway. Once everyone agreed on the plan, they split into groups of two; Callie and Marie, Valerie and Pearl, and Connor and Tobias. Marina stayed behind on the train with Cap'n Cuttlefish to offer communications support.

The test chamber that Connor and Tobias found themselves in had their ink color a matching dark blue, the color reminding Tobias of something... Shaking the thought off and focusing on the test, he took a steady aim with his loaned Splat Charger at the switch high above them. His shot was just short of reaching it. "Ah, darn it..."

"Here. Let me try..." Connor smiled while stepping up with his scoped Splat Charger. Taking his aim, he released the trigger. His shot of blue ink just reached the switch, turning it on and activating a moving platform.

Tobias smiled and thanked the Inkling while moving forwards. Waiting for Connor to join him, Tobias took out the nearby enemies that his weapon could reach. Connor used the scope on his weapon to take out the farther enemies. As the platform slowly made it's way to the next location which looked to be the end of the test, Tobias couldn't help himself as he kept chancing glances at Connor.

Just the way the Inkling Agent held the charger and took precise shots, how his cape was gently flowing from the light breeze caused by the movement of the platform; he truly looked like a hero. Becoming too distracted by his thoughts, he missed taking out an Octosniper, ultimately being punished for his carelessness by taking a fully charged blast from it. He cried out in pain as the shield from his testing gear shattered, leaving his top half in a small tank top. Red angry sparks flew from his gear as it tried to recover the shield, the Octoling falling to his knees and using the butt of his charger as a crutch.

"Agent Eight!" Connor called out, taking out the Octosniper that had shot his partner. Running over to his side, Connor took a defensive stance over the Octoling and used his cape to completely cover the boy and hide him from the approaching enemies until his suit recovered. "Stay hidden! I'll protect you until your shield comes back!"

"I-I'm sorry... Agent Three..."

Connor didn't respond as he focused on his aim. Seeing a puddle of blue ink that came from the Inkling's charger forming right below them, Tobias turned into his octopus form and dove into the ink to help his shield heal faster. The instant it recovered, he jumped from the ink and took aim at two Twintacle Octotroopers that were flanking Connor without the Inkling knowing.

Taking them both out, Tobias shouted out in surprise when the entire platform suddenly jerked from beneath them, indicating it had stopped. Lifting his head up, he saw the data point that they needed to collect in order to fully pass the test.

With one fully charged shot from Connor's charger, the data point was ready to be collected, quickly being don so by the Octoling. "Yes! We passed!"

"And with this new data point collected, Marina will have more info about the goop that damn phone created." Connor added with a small smile, loving the wide grin on Tobias' face. He was having more and more conflicting feelings towards the Octoling, and working together in the test chambers was not helping to ease his feelings and thoughts.

After completing a few more tests and giving the data points over to Marina to analyze, The Agents all called it a day and went off on their own ways.

Connor kept making sure Tobias wasn't hurt from when he had taken a direct hit from that Octosniper, in which the Octoling constantly reassured him he was alright. Once they returned to the apartment, Tobias offered to make dinner this time while Connor got cleaned up first.

Connor couldn't wait for whatever the meal was the younger male had in store, Tobias excitedly gathering all the ingredients as he went over the newly remembered recipe.

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter. I'm sorry. But luckily, I have the next few chapters nearly completed. Just have to finish them and make any necessary edits. I'm so glad to know this story i still being enjoyed~!
> 
> Also, why is it every time I get the Flu shot (ugh, working in an ER makes it mandatory) I suddenly find my arm RIGHT where the injection site is wanting to make out with literally everything?? Walls, doors, the stand alone computer in the EMS bay...? Seriously, it doesn't matter what is it. My sore arm finds it, and makes magical whoopy with it. The hell??


	6. The Beginnings of Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon both Connor and Tobias sharing a forgotten memory, their friendship becomes strong and hidden feelings even stronger. Tobias however begins to come to terms with his feelings and now seeks out a friend to confine within them as he continues sorting out his emotions. Connor on the other hand is still, if not even more so, confused about his feelings and continues to try and figure himself out alone and in secret. Finding himself strangely in a test alone with Agent Four, Tobias meets with Valerie and finds she's the friend he's been searching for. Valerie now has made it a mission from above to make a plan and set it in motion to help her new best friend admit his attraction to the otherwise 'grumpy' Inkboy as Valerie puts it.

_There was yelling. Someone was yelling an order. To... attack? Blue ink. Suddenly, there was blue ink flying at him. He ran, but could hear his attacker's footsteps closely behind him. Too close!_

_He ducked, narrowly evading what he thought was more of the blue ink. Something larger attacked. Coming back... it's too fast and coming back for him! He cried out, jumping out of the way only to look over his shoulder in horror. It was upon him now, ready to grab him._

_He was shoved to the side just in time, the air leaving his lungs as he fell hard against the ground. A heavy weight was sprawled on top of him. Opening his eyes, he looked through the small lens of his Octoling goggles._

_The Agent was lying on top of him. He... had pushed him out of the thing's reach..._

_"Get up!" the Inkling had shouted while pushing himself to his own feet. "Come on, get up! It's coming back!" He had grabbed his hand, pulling him up with him. They were now running together, away from that thing._

_The Agent still had a firm grasp on his wrist, pulling him behind himself. Luckily, he could easily keep up with the Inkling. He was slightly taller than him. They continued to run until they were cornered by a hole that lead down to the deepest depths._

Tobias groaned in the back of his throat while sitting up, his back and neck sore from how he had been sleeping. Despite having apparently passed out against Agent Three whom he found was very comfy, his body still ached.

"Hey, you rest alright?" Agent Three asked softly, smiling at the Octoling who was still trying to wake up from his short nap.

Looking around, it took a quick second for his brain to register where they were. They were on the Metro train. They had completed a handful of tests that wore the Octoling out. He stretched before smiling and rubbing the back of his neck, "Yeah. Kinda. Just a little sore is all."

It was then silent between the two of them for a few moments before Agent Eight spoke up softly, "Hey... Three? I had a dream... I want to talk to you about it if that's alright when we get home."

Agent Three blinked, a look of concern coming to his face as he leaned closer, "Of course. We should be home soon."

**~~~**

"So... ready to talk about your dream?" Connor asked with a small smile. Upon receiving a curt nod from the Octoling sitting next to him on the couch, Connor continued; "Was it... a nightmare?"

"No. It was... a memory. I think it was right before I woke up in the Deepsea Metro Station with the Cap'n." he explained slowly while reaching over to the coffee table to grab a chip and dip it in the salsa Connor had made.

"Really?" The Inkling then sat his tea down, "Tobias, please be honest with me if you remember. Before you came to the Deepsea Metro... were you... being attacked... by me? Was that _you_ that I tried to save from falling into that pit?"

Pink eyes were opened wide in realization. Then it was true in his dream. "Connor... what happened? I only remember being chased by you and then something attacked us."

Taking a deep breath, Connor took his tea back in hand and took a sip before beginning; "Cap'n Cuttlefish had called me over because of a lone Octoling that he encountered. He then had me attack them. Had me attack _you_. You ran away and as I chased after you, we were eventually attacked by some large shadow. I wasn't able to make out what it was, it moved far too quickly. It seemed like it was after you so without thinking really, I had thrown myself at you and knocked you out of it's way. We then ran together to try and get away from it, but got cornered by a large opening in the ground that I think what ever that thing was had created.

"As we we catching our breath and looked down the hole, we had noticed that the Cap'n had been knocked into the hole and was laying on a piece of debris that was stuck in the dirt. He was unconscious. We, still to this day, have no earthly idea how he even got there. Just as you said you would go help him, that... thing reached up from the hole and snatched you. I... tried to grab you... but I missed..." Connor then fell silent as he remembered something that now he couldn't believe he had forgotten;

_Leaning over the edge carefully, both Agent Three and the Octoling stared down into the darkness._

_"Oh, man... that looks like it'd be a nasty fall." the Octoling sighed under his breath before turning to smile widely at the Inkling. "Thank you, for grabbing me. I nearly ran right over the edge." He then chuckled nervously._

_"Don't mention it." the Agent chuckled while panting deeply, trying to catch his breath. "Now I just need to figure out how to I'm going to get to the Cap'n... How'd the hell did he even get there?"_

_"Do you think maybe that thing grabbed him by mistake when it was chasing us? Hey, it actually looks like I can reach him easily. You're tired. Allow me to repay my debt to you for saving me by helping you with him." the young Octoling smiled while crouching down before the exhausted Inkling._

_"Are... you sure...?" Agent Three wasn't too sure how he felt about an Octoling saving the Cap'n, but at the same time, this Octoling seemed very different._

_"I am. I... know it's hard to trust me... I'm different from before, and I want to help. Let's just say I opened my eyes and was shown the light." he chuckled while slowly pushing his Octoling goggles up to rest on his forehead._

_Agent Three held his breath as he was able to spot one of the most vibrant pink eyes that was surrounded by a black mask kind of like an Inkling's just more exotically shaped and not connected over the nose. Just one pink orb peeked out from under the goggles and stared directly into his teal._

_It was direct eye contact made with an Octoling for the first time ever and literally lasted no more than a full second before a massive shadow came from the hole and wrapped around the male Octoling, pulling a terrified yelp from him as it yanked him down into the abyss._

_Agent Three shouted while quickly lurching forwards and reached for his outstretched hand, the tips of their fingers brushing as the Octoling was pulled out of his reach. "Nooo!!"_

"Connor?"

The Inkling startled a bit, shaking his head and clearing his throat, "S-sorry... just got lost in thought for a bit there."

Tobias chuckled, "It's alright. I know what that's like. So... the thing that attacked us. It _had_ to have been that phone. It must've also been what changed me from my old Octoling Armor to the testing gear that I woke up wearing. As well as putting those ID bands on me..."

Without even thinking about what he was about to say, Connor chuckled while holding his cup to his lips, joking softly while feeling his cheeks darken at the actual thought; "So, does this mean that crazy phone saw you naked?"

Tobias felt his own body heat up as he became tense, becoming uncomfortable at the thought that Tartar most likely _did_ see him naked. But more flustered at the thought that _Connor_ , in a sense, thought about him being naked. "W-well... I guess he _did_ have to if he was the one who changed my clothes."

_'Go figure, stupid crazed AI that tried to kill all of us gets to see him naked...'_ Connor thought bitterly to himself before suddenly realizing _what_ he had thought and therefor choked on his tea.

"Connor! Are you alright!?" Tobias gasped while smacking the Inkling's back to help him clear out his airway.

"I'm fine~!" he choked.

Karma... you're such a bitch.

**~~~**

It's been four weeks. An entire month since Tobias came to live with Connor after reaching the surface. He thought his feelings were just because of how kind and generous the Inkling has been towards him. But instead of fazing out like he thought, his feelings have only grown stronger.

He's been able to sleep much more soundly ever since they started sharing the bed, but that ended up being a double-edged sword as waking up nearly every morning, it was almost always Tobias that was clinging to the Inkling, therefor making his feelings bloom even more. To make it worse, he woke up one morning before Connor and found his pink tentacle tightly coiled around the Inkling's left yellow one, holding it while he had been snuggled into Connor's chest. Tobias only ended up having a nightmare that wasn't memory based. He didn't wake up kicking and screaming, so he knew it wasn't a night terror. But aside from that, things have been going great. They've been able to find more and more data points to give to Marina to analyze and continued to discover more sections of the underground facility.

Now his only current dilemma were the palpitations he would get every time he and Connor would accidentally brush up against each other.

One day he somehow found himself in a test chamber but was partnered with Agent Four. He had nothing against her. In fact, he found he rather enjoyed her company. So much so that by the end of the test, he found he could easily talk with her about basically anything. This gave him an idea.

"Hey, Agent Four?"

She twirled her Hero Duelies before sheathing them and turning to face the Octoling, "What's up, Eight?"

"Umm... If it's possible... I mean when ever you're not busy of course, do you think it would be alright if you and I could hang out sometime and talk? I... I've been having a problem lately and I think I need a friend to talk to."

She blinked, placing one hand on her hip and tilting her head, "Uh, oh... I've got a feeling if you're looking for someone to talk to _other_ than Connor, it's about him then?"

Tobias felt his cheeks heat up, "Well, yeah kinda. I mean it's nothing bad!"

Agent Four giggled and nodded her head, "Sure, Agent Eight! If you're free tomorrow, we can go grab some lunch together at Crusty Sean's food truck! I _think_ I remember Connor saying something about doing a few Ranked battles with his friends so he'll be busy and out of the way."

Agent Eight's face lit up, "That would be perfect! Thank you, Four!"

"Of course! What're friends for?" She gave him a thumbs up before heading off to returning to the surface, having stated she was calling it quits after the last test where she was splatted three times.

"Agent Eight! Could you come here for a moment? I think you might want to see this." Marina smiled.

Tobias jogged over towards Marina and looked down at her laptop. Displayed on the screen appeared to be a paused video footage that was recorded from a grainy security camera.

"I found this while digging around the monitoring systems. I strongly believe this is how you lost your memory." she explained and pressed play, Tobias watching with rapt attention.

**~~~**

The hesitance Connor openly displayed when Valerie came by to pick up Tobias for lunch had the Octoling curious about their relationship. The three of them ended up heading towards the Square together, seeing as the food truck was parked right outside the Battle Lobby.

After waving the male Inkling off and grabbing their lunch, Valerie and Tobias were sitting alone together at one of the tables set up in the closed off street, the two of them sitting opposite each other and shielded by the sun underneath the large open umbrella.

Valerie took a long sip from her drink, watching Tobias take a bite from his food before asking, "So... let's start from the beginning. How _did_ you and Connor meet exactly?"

Tobias blinked and looked up at her, slightly confused for a second until he remembered that Valerie wasn't really around yet during the whole crazy phone trying to destroy the world thing. "Um... well? It's kind of a long story. But, the shortened version is... he saved me." he began explaining with a fond smile forming.

Valerie sat her drink on the table and leaned forward, "Wow, really? What happened? We've got time for the long version!"

"Yeah. I... don't really remember everything myself yet, but apparently I had stumbled upon where Cap'n Cuttlefish was staying at in Octo Vally. He, naturally, thought I was up to no good, so he had Agent Three attack me."

"Connor was ordered by the Cap'n?" Green eyes were wide.

Tobias nodded his head, frowning. "I'm not mad or anything. It's all understandable. But while I was trying to escape Agent Three, something had attacked us. From what Connor told me, he and I barely escaped being dragged down into a large hole. The Cap'n was hanging on to the ledge opposite of us, and just as I was about to go over to help the Cap'n... something had reached up and grabbed me. Connor... he had reached out and tried to save me. I don't remember much like I said... but I can clearly remember the absolute look of horror on his face as his hand just missed grabbing mine.

"The Cap'n was caught in the gust of wind caused by the thing that grabbed me and was knocked down the whole with me. I didn't know how the Cap'n had made it out without a single scratch, but Marina had dug around and found a video feed that recorded our decent. I had apparently managed to get free from what had attacked me and grabbed the Cap'n. He was apparently unconscious when I reached him and I used my own body to shield him. I took the full brunt of the fall when I collided against a metal platform that was sticking out of the wall, hitting my head hard on it and losing my memory."

Valerie cringed, "Ouch... so that's what happened..."

"When I woke up, the Cap'n and I worked together to reach The Promise Land as we were told by this A.I. that was a phone. It tricked us of course, and tried to kill us using a large device that was basically an oversize blender."

Valerie cocked a brow, "A blender? What a strange and very barbaric method..."

"Well, he was apparently collecting top test subjects to blend them into the necessary ingredients that he needed to create the ultimate beings... or something like that."

Valerie shuddered at the thought though her green eyes were wide with interest, "Then what happened??"

"Just as we thought we were done for, Marina sent out a distress call through my CQ-80. Agent Three had found one and his had picked up the signal from mine. He was also luckily very close by." He paused to take a drink from his soda. A fond smile once again coming to his lips as his remembered the rescue. "Next thing I knew, he came crashing through the glass ceiling and used his own body to break through the blender encasing us. We had gotten out unharmed, but unfortunately Connor had knocked himself out." He had actually expected a laugh or even a chuckle from Valerie, but instead the female Inkling had a worried expression.

"When I saw him lying there... my hearts began to flutter. I _knew_ he looked familiar... but I just _couldn't_ at the time pinpoint where I'd seen him before. I did however take notice that I found him... extremely attractive. When Cap'n Cuttlefish insisted I go ahead while he waited behind with Agent Three, I didn't want to leave. His smile then fell and eyes filled with sadness. "It killed me when he attacked..."

Valerie grinned upon Tobias admitting to her that he found Connor attractive, having a feeling she now knew what this _problem_ Tobias has been having lately, however before she had the chance to further push the topic, she choked on her drink, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up. _Who_ attacked you? _Agent Three_??"

"Yes. Well actually, yes and no. He had been partially sanitized by the A.I. and brainwashed into attacking me. It was completely against Connor's will. I couldn't breath each time I shot at him. And when I actually _hit_ him? I was so afraid he hated me because of that. That's why when he just up and left without really speaking to me... I just assumed that he _did_ hate me... and wanted to be as far away from me as possible..."

Valerie frowned, feeling her chest aching for the young Octoling. "Oh, Tobi. No one could possibly get mad at you for having no choice but to defend yourself. And in fact... I've been speaking with Marie about it and... now you _didn't_ hear this from me, but from what she's been saying, it actually sounds like Connor is having a hard time forgiving _himself_."

Tobias' eyes opened wide in surprise, "What? W-what do you mean?"

She leaned back against her chair, taking a short sip of her drink before continuing softly; "Well, apparently he feels like he _let_ himself get caught and used by that A.I. too easily. That's at least what Marie had said. Connor I guess has been hard on himself ever since then but is only talking to her about it. That's why I said, you didn't hear this from me. _Please_ don't go to either Connor or Marie about it!" Valerie plead with the Octoling.

Tobias smiled, "Don't worry, Val. I promise it's between you and me."

Valerie sighed with relief before smiling cutely at him, "Also apparently, Connor hates how his first impression on you played out."

This had Tobias sitting upright rigidly, eyes wide; "What!? I don't see why!! His first impression was he _saved_ my life!" Tobias then suddenly became defensive over Connor while he began belittling himself; "Connor has no one to blame for what happened to him but _me_! If I wasn't so stupid, naive and gullible... then he never would've become a target by that damn phone and used..."

Valerie blinked, processing everything that she just witnessed and at last, put two and two together. Leaning over the table, she asked quietly; "Tobias... you _really_ like Connor, don't you?"

The Octoling suddenly felt cornered as his face heated up, nearly choking on his drink. "W-what do you mean, Val?"

"Oh come on! You _know_ what I mean! Romantically. You're attracted to him, aren't you? Have you talked to him yet?"

At this, Tobias slammed his drink down, "Are you _insane_?? Talk to him!? First off... I'm an Octoling. I'm _pretty_ sure he's still weary of my kind. It's amazing enough he was so open about me living with him. Secondly, I had to _fight_ him. I _hurt_ him, Valerie! And third I'm... new..." he trailed off, face becoming nearly as pink as his tentacle. "This is why I needed someone to talk to... I was going insane..."

"Okay, so my turn to rebuttal. First, everyone knows that it's D.J. Octavio we have the issue with. Now that we know he has his soldier's conditioned to fight for him, we no longer blame the Octolings. Second, like I said before... you were acting on self-defense. Connor would've _hated_ himself even more had you _not_ defended yourself. And thirdly, who cares that you're new? Everyone's new to Inkopolis at some point unless you're born here." Valerie sat back with her legs crossed, taking a long victorious sip of her drink.

Tobias however, shrunk back into his chair, his eyes diverted to the side. "N-no I don't mean new to the city. I mean... I'm new to... you know... _relationships_." He then hung his head and hit his face in his hands, mumbling just barely coherently enough for the female Inkling to understand him, "I don't have a lot of my memories back yet. But I'm... I'm pretty positive that I've... never _been_ in a relationship..."

Valerie blinked at him, finding his reactions to the whole situation too cute. Ahh, if only Connor were here it'd be even better! She giggled and leaned back over the table towards him, "Psst! Hey, Tobi? Guess what? We all start out new there too."

Tobias looked up enough to have one eye glance between his fingers at Valerie, his eye color nearly becoming one with his cheeks as his face continued to darken. Valerie thought for a moment before tapping her chin, "Hmm. Tell you what. I'll hang out with Connor, just me and him. I'll talk with him casually about you and see if I can't get anything out of him. Would it be easier for you to admit your feelings if you knew how he felt towards you?"

"God, yes! But... how are you going to get him alone to talk with him? I mean... not to be rude or anything... but doesn't he hate you?"

Valerie laughed, waving her hand back and forth; "As a fellow Agent and especially while on the field, yes. But as a normal person? We're pretty cool. I annoy the hell out of him, but hey, he needs someone to counterbalance his grumpiness!"

The two of them continued on chatting now about different topics, Tobias feeling an enormous weight lifting from his chest now that he was able to come out and actually talk to someone about his developing feelings for Connor, and not be judged by them but actually be offered help with his situation.

He was incredibly grateful and felt a little more confident with himself about everything. And from that moment on, much to Connor's annoyance, Tobias and Valerie became inseparable friends.

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in an update. Work has been draining lately but that's life~! And uh-oh, what does Valerie have up her sleeve? ;) And poor Connor... it only gets worse for him from this point on. My poor little confused bean... ;^;


	7. Valerie's Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding the time for a quick break, the Trio enjoy a few rounds of Turf Wars. After coming across a player with a piece of equipment that catches his eye, Tobias suddenly finds himself slightly annoyed at being limited to what he can purchase due to his level of 'Freshness'. Connor of course surprises the Octoling with a gift, Tobias' reaction to receiving it only furthering Connor's feelings. Valerie by now takes it upon herself to lure Connor into a secluded area to be alone with her so she can set her plan into motion; Finding out _just_ how Connor feels about Tobias. Oh yeah, _she's_ seen those looks the Inkling's been giving the Octoling lately...

Having all decided to take a break, Connor, Tobias and Valerie decided to play in Turf Wars together, and were happy as they were more often than not matched on the same team.

The last match however had Connor on team orange while Valerie and Tobias were on team blue. One of Connor's teammates was a young and energetic Inkling girl with a Squid Hair clip, and during nearly the entire match, Connor couldn't help but notice Tobias being distracted by the girl. Just as a flare of jealousy bloomed within him, Connor noticed upon further observation that it wasn't the girl he was distracted by, but her hair accessory.

At the end of the match, the orange team won. Valerie pouted as she looked at the stats. But then she grinned as she found this to be crucial to her plan; Connor had no problem splatting the entire blue team. Except for Tobias. He never once splatted the Octoling. There were a few times that Tobias actually had the opportunity to splat Connor, but didn't.

Then there was the one priceless moment she got to actually witness where the two of them were having a silent standoff, before simultaneously drawing their weapons on each other and splatted one another. _'I find it to be a wee-bit suspicious with that kind of favoritism...'_ she chuckled to herself while putting her phone in her back pocket. "Great game everyone! But I'm beat! Who wants a snack!?" Valerie raised her hand at her own question. She began idling chatting with the random players from the last match while Connor approached Tobias, who was staring at the hair clip.

"See something you like?" the male Inkling whispered close to Tobias' ear a little flirtatiously. What? Connor shook his head, he's just messing with his friend. That's all!

"That girl's hair clip." was all the Octoling could say. Suddenly being dragged away by Valerie, Tobias gave Connor a fleeting 'help me' look before he was brought towards a small group of the players.

"So... he likes that girl's hair clip...?" Seeing the girl with the hair clip standing in line at Crusty Sean's food truck, Connor slipped away from the group to go and speak with her.

Valerie laughed while looking over her shoulder, suddenly taking notice of the lack of Connor's presence. She was curious when she spotted him alone and speaking with the Inkling girl from his team. She watched from the corner of her eye as the girl seemed confused at first about something he had said before smiling and motioning to her hair clip.

Once he seemed to have gotten whatever he needed, he waved to her and began heading back over towards them, Valerie quickly turning back towards the group and laughing amongst them to avoid being caught spying. Once Connor came up beside her, she couldn't help herself anyways as she elbowed him, "Get a phone number?"

"Nope. The store where she bought her hair clip." he simply responded.

She blinked and cocked a brow, "Why?"

"Don't worry about it." he smiled at her before excusing himself and heading towards the shops.

Connor... genuinely smiled... at Valerie... what the fuck was going on with that boy??

**~~~**

Tobias yawned from his spot on the couch, feeling tired from the hours of Turf Wars they all spent playing. He was certainly getting the hang of the life style the Inklings have. Feeling his tentacle twitch against the FishFry Visor he still wore, he groaned and pulled it off, tossing it onto the coffee table as he allowed his tentacle to lazily hang down the side of his face.

"Isn't that uncomfortable against your tentacle?" Connor asked from where he sat at the breakfast bar on his laptop. "I noticed the underside of it rests against the rough material. Isn't the underside sensitive like ours are?"

"Kinda. But I don't really have any other headgear at the moment." he pouted. He _wasn't_ enjoying the so called Freshness that the Inkling's basically live by. His level was still a bit low compared to his friends so his gear to purchase was limited. "And yes. Though our suckers are the most sensitive." he added while pointing to the large suckers that rest at the top of his pink tentacle.

Connor filed _that_ bit of information away for later... "Here, speaking of which... I got you something. Consider it a thank you gift for putting up with me." Connor smiled while tossing Tobias a small yellow box.

Tobias caught it, "Putting up with you? You're the one who welcomed me into his home! If anything, _you're_ the one putting up with _me_!"

"Whatever the case. Hope you like it." Connor then turned back towards his laptop as he felt his cheeks warming up.

Tobias smiled widely and carefully opened the gift. Taking the pink tissue paper gently out, his eyes opened wide as sitting nestled safely in a pink satin pillow, was a brand new Squid Hair clip just like the one he had seen earlier that day. "It's the hair clip! Connor, how did you-? T-thank you so much!" he exclaimed while taking it out of the box and putting it on. "How's it look?"

Connor paused his typing and turned on the stool, his face flushing as he swallowed hard, "It looks cute-GOOD! I-it looks really good on you. H-how's it feel compared to a hat?" He cleared his throat, trying to keep himself in control of his confused feelings but with his hearts racing, body flushing and mouth going dry all while his stomach continued to do massive flips was making it hard to focus. It drove him crazy that he felt like this around the Octoling so much lately.

Tobias chuckled as Connor had stumbled over his words, finding it cute but was too excited over the gift to have put anymore thought into it, "It feels so much better! So lightweight! It doesn't touch my tentacle at all! It's perfect, thank you again so much!" The younger male had thrown himself against Connor in a tight embrace before he even knew what he was doing, blushing brightly however did not pull away. "I don't remember if I've ever been given a gift of something I wanted! Or being given a gift at all for that matter that I didn't have to earn!" he explained, the last part referring to the points he was given by C-Q Cumber for finding new lines in the station.

Connor's face and ears darkened drastically in blush, eyes wide as slowly his brain restarted, allowing him the basic functions needed to respond and return the tight hug. He could feel Tobias _nuzzling_ his cheek against his own, nearly pulling a strangled wine from the Inkling. After making sure his voice could be trusted, he whispered; "Y-you're welcome, Tobi."

The moment was ruined by a sudden knock on the door, Tobias quickly pulling himself away and clearing his throat while Connor subconsciously cursed while going to the door. Upon opening it, he wanted to punch the grinning face that greeted him.

"Hiya, boys! Connor!! Juuuuuust the squid I wanted!" Valerie cheered. "I need your help! Can you please come with me for a bit and help me train using a Charger??"

Connor blinked while staring at Valerie's puppy-dog face. "Umm.... what?"

"Pleeeeease! Connor! I _must_ learn this weapon!!" she obnoxiously begged him, causing him to sigh with a roll of teal eyes.

"Alright, alright! Just, stop with the begging. Tobi, you wanna come with?" Connor turned away from Valerie.

Valerie panicked and while looking at Tobias, violently shook her head as Connor was facing the Octoling while waiting for an answer so he couldn't see her motions. Taking her hint, Tobias faked a yawn, "Naah... I think I'll sit this one out. I'm pretty tired. You guys go have fun!"

"I hate you..." Connor mumbled while being dragged out the door by Valerie.

**~~~**

"So why the hell are you so interested in learning to use a charger so suddenly?" he asked while choosing his weapon and picking the location for their locked private match.

"Well? Everyone on our team is good with them. Even Tobi's getting pretty good. The last test we did together required Chargers to pass." She grinned at him, noticing his reaction to the Octoling's name. Her main purpose for dragging Connor out here to be alone with her was to get a chance to talk with him about Tobias and possibly see if she could find out how he felt towards him. She's not stupid and has notice the very subtle glances the Inkling male would chance Tobias whenever he had a chance.

He had jumped slightly, keeping his back towards her as he cleared his throat; "Oh really? So then how'd you do?"

"I was splatted three times. So now we're here." 

"Ahh." Choosing an easy level to start her out with basic training, they each appeared at their Spawn points. Since it was a private match Connor didn't bother setting the ink so they were each given random colors. He was green while Valerie was blue.

The stage was Walleye Warehouse so they each met in the dead center. "Alright, so your first lesson should be the proper way of holding the weapon."

**~~~**

They ended up spending nearly two hours together, constantly being given different colored ink. It wasn't until it seemed like he was being repeatedly given pink that Valerie decided she had learned enough about the Charger class and so began setting her plan into motion; "You know, pink looks good on you. I'm sure Tobias would agree!"

Connor faltered in his aim, coughing before bringing his scope back to his eye and searching for her, "Why? Because his natural color is pink?"

"Sure!" Valerie poked her head out from around the center boxes, finding Connor stationed on the top ledge near his Spawn point. Her current Ink color was now green. "So, Connor... you've been living together for a bit now. What's Tobias like?"

Feeling his face heating up for some reason, he growled while shaking his head. "Trying to distract your opponent is a real dick move, Val."

"I ain't trying no dick moves, bro!" she shouted while leaping out and taking aim, managing to actually get a few weak shots on him before he splatted her. She had to keep up with her normal dorkiness to avoid Connor becoming too suspicious.

Connor lowered his weapon while watching her ghost returning to the Spawn point. _'She's actually getting better. But I feel like she's up to something...'_

Shaking spare ink from her hair, Valerie chuckled and quickly turned into her squid form, swimming through her ink and returning to where she had been hiding before. He had moved to a new location which she had expected.

It was quiet for about five seconds until Connor's voice echoed, causing her to grin even wider as she was slowly but surely getting him to lower his guard;

"And to not be rude, I'll go ahead and answer your question! He's... not really much different as if we were in the station. He's kind and generous... it's really hard to believe he was an enemy of ours back then." The more he spoke about Tobias, the more he began to actually forget he was in the middle of a private Turf War. "He's always there to help even if he has no idea what he could actually do. He puts others needs before hims own, even if it's something he really wants."

By now his Charger was fully lowered, his eyes half lidded as he smiled fondly to himself while remembering just how excited the Octoling was over receiving that hair clip. Next thing he knows, he's respawning at his Spawn point.

Valerie stared. She got him...? He was completely out of it. She suddenly made a startling discovery. While trying to find out how Connor feels about Tobias, she unintentionally found out that while the Inkling is thinking of the Octoling, he completely zones out and becomes vulnerable. Was... Tobias a sort of _weakness_?? Because if _that's_ the case then oh, yeah... Connor's got the hots for Tobias.

Connor was quick to swim to the center of the level where Valerie was still standing stunned. He was fuming.

"Connor," she started seriously. "what... just happened? You were completely zoned out. You've _never_ acted like that before?"

"I--?" he began but stopped. He had nothing to say...

"Connor, you were perfectly fine up until you started telling me so much about Tobias. Is there... something on your mind? Something bothering you? I know we have our differences, but I'm your _friend_ in the end. You can tell me anything." she spoke gently to him. This could be it!!

"I--I...?" His face darkened as his hearts began racing. What was he trying to even say!? He could feel his palms beginning to sweat, causing his grip on his charger to loosen.

A tender touch to his arm had him jumping almost violently, Valerie surprised to feel how badly he was trembling. "Connor... you _know_ you can talk to me. Please be honest, do you... _like_ Tobias?"

Teal eyes snapped wide as he jerked away from her touch, sweat now beginning to slowly trail down his temples. He felt cornered, something he _hated_ above all else!

"Connor, you _know_ I won't judge you or anything. I'm your friend and I just want to help." she continued to talk soothingly to him, knowing he was on the verge of panic attack. _'Just need a confession. I can then go back to Tobi, help him plan out a date and get these two together by the end of the week!_ '

"I... I don't... know-?"

Suddenly their time ran out, ending the match and causing Connor to snap out of his near melt down; "I think you've gotten better. That's enough for now. I'm tired, so I'm going to head on home. See you around." He then quickly left without giving her a chance to even say bye.

 _'Oh man.... Connor has it BAAAAAAD for you, Tobi...'_ she silently concluded.

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Connor. I'm putting him through hell. XD Not to be a tease, but I guess I am... Next chapter will have a bit of smut in it. So if you're not into that, I don't understand why you're reading this story, but I'll come up with a way of marking the start and end so it can be bypassed.


	8. Secret Desires and Self Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After his little talk with Valerie, Connor's feeling's for Tobias nearly double. After a certain... event leaves the Inkling at last accepting his feelings for the Octoling, He contacts the only person he can think of to help him; Valerie.  
> ~  
> Note: Smut in this chapter. If you wanna skip it, look for the *. There is a * at the start and end of the smut.

It's been a full week since the one-on-one training between Connor and Valerie that ended in a interrogation. Valerie kept trying to talk to Connor, but the male Inkling had thrown his walls back in place and were even thicker to get through this time.

Connor became even more closed off as he continued to struggle with the fact that yes... he truly does believe he's falling for Tobias. And that scared him. All the signs point to the obvious, he just didn't want to accept it.

He had been hurt by his ex. Bad. So trust was hard for him. He hated having that subconscious fear constantly gnawing at him. It wasn't fair to Tobias. But at the same time, he felt... angry at himself? He couldn't help it as his messed up mental state began making him believe he was taking advantage of Tobias. The Octoling having night terrors that stop when they're together had his brain on a field trip.

A shot of bright teal ink whizzed passed his head, snapping him back to the Turf War he was in the middle of. _'Dammit! I need to stop zoning out like this!'_ he cursed to himself while gripping his Sploosh-o-Matic tightly.

Upon turing a corner and seeing two member's from the teal team swimming at him with great speed, Connor held his ground while inking his immediate area until the two Inkling's jumped out of the ink with Splat Rollers before using his special.

Tobias blinked as the ground beneath him shook suddenly. Running around the corner, he found Connor in the middle of a huge ring of purple ink. He had used his Splashdown and got two members of his team. Gripping his N-Zapp 89 tightly, Tobias dipped into the teal ink that hadn't been covered up by Connor's special and moved to use the trail on the wall to his left to get a high vantage point to attack the Inkling from above.

The stage was Moray Towers.

Moving slowly so he wasn't spotted, once he reached the wall he quickly swam up it until he was above Connor. Jumping from the wall and changing from his octopus form, he opened fire on his friend.

Connor raised his gun and pulled the trigger before quickly diving into his ink and dashing away upon seeing who was targeting him.

Tobias grinned, _'Aww, running away?'_ He changed back into his octopus form and dove into his ink color that ran nearly beside Connor's trail, chasing after the fleeing Inkling. Just as he was about to catch up, one of Connor's teammates came from the right and saw his movements.

Gripping his Ink brush, the Octoling jumped with a battle cry, swinging his weapon back and forth and trying to splat Tobias.

Cursing as he had lost sight of Connor, Tobias smirked to himself upon his special building up. Super jumping back to his Spawn point just as the other Octoling landed before him, Tobias used his special. Shouldering the massive launcher, he took careful aim until he managed to sight all four of the purple team, launching off his Tenta Missils.

Super jumping to a fellow teammate that was near the center of the stage, Tobias cried out upon getting a hit. "Aww, man! I'm sorry, Val!!!"

"It's okaaaaay~!" came a response from his friend that he was surprised he was able to hear.

Just as he was about to jumped back into the fight, the teammate he had jumped to suddenly got Splatted. "What!?" Looking over his shoulder, he was unable to bring his gun up in time to defend himself against the Inkling that was jumping towards him. 

Purple ink was fired and hit it's mark before the shooter could stop. 

He couldn't help the giddy feeling he got when he saw the notification that it was Connor who had splatted him. Just then, said Inkling did something that... confused the Octoling.

Almost immediately after he splatted Tobias, Connor had turned into his squid form, swam quickly through the ink towards the edge of the stage and... jumped? He jumped right off the side of the stage and basically splatted himself??

One of the two rollers on his team respawned, about ready to run back into the fight until she saw Tobias. "Hey, you alright?" she asked, her eyes hidden behind the Ink Guard Goggles she wore.

"Y-yeah it's just... I'm friends with two from the purple team and one of them splatted me. He then just jumped over the edge?"

The Inkling girl laughed, "Yeah. Me and my friends do that, too! I guess it's just a weird way of apologizing for splatting a friend or something?" She gave him a thumbs up before running off to join the others.

"I'll keep that in mind." he smiled before Super jumping to the same Inkling girl's location.

**~~~**

"Man, I'm beat! That was a fun match!" Tobias smiled while carefully setting his N-Zapp 89 in the closet by the front door.

Connor snorted but with a grin and he too put his weapon away, "Yeah, until you and Val kept jumping to your deaths after splatting one another."

Tobias removed his shoes before placing a hand to his hip and poked a finger into Connor's chest, "You're just butthurt that the room turned into a party room."

" _Butthurt_? Really? Tobi, where...?" he then narrowed his eyes. " _Valerie_. She's becoming a bad influence to your innocence." he joked while taking his shoes off and set them beside Tobias'.

"But we made a bunch of new friends today!"

"Yeah, that's true." the Inkling smiled.

**~~~**

"Hey, did you want to take a shower first?"

"You go ahead first and I'll cook us up something." Tobias called from the kitchen. He already had his head in the fridge.

"Alright, I won't be long." Taking a towel from the laundry room, Connor slipped into the bathrom and shut the door.

Stripping his clothes and tossing them in the hamper, he stepped into the tub and used the dial to select yellow for the ink-water color.

Sighing contently as the hot spray rained down over his naked dark body, Connor closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the liquid soothing his aching muscles. As much as he would love to just stand here all night, he knew Tobias wanted a shower as well.

"It's moments like this I wished I had gone with a one bed, two bath unit. Maybe we'll move? Or maybe... I can just convince Tobi to shower with me?" he joked out loud to himself, feeling his cheeks warming up at the ridiculous idea of having the younger Agent join him, not even really sure what was wrong with him anymore to have come up with such a strange, yet hot idea.

"I think it'll be easier to convince me to join you versus us having to move."  
*  
Teal eyes snapped open wide at the words spoken to him from right behind him and in such a seductive tone, his body shivering pleasantly as his flaccid member began twitching to life. Turning only halfway so he could keep his hardening length hidden, Connor swallowed hard at the sight behind him.

Tobias stood stark naked in the tub with him, his bright pink eyes half lidded and clouded with a deep hidden desire. His fair skin was already beginning to gain a light pink blush to it due to the heat of the ink-water. His naturally pink tentacle and hair was currently a matching shade of yellow as Connor's so that the ink-water would not harm him.

Tobias stepped closer, now standing directly before Connor as the older male fully turned to face him, "Of course," the Octoling began, his eyes lowering to openly gaze upon the now nearly fully erect shaft that was staring back at him, "I can think of _other_ things that we can do together in the shower." he hinted before being very blunt and taking a firm hold of Connor's now aching shaft into his right hand.

"Ahh!! S-shit, T-Tobias!? Connor gasped while collapsing backwards against the shower wall, hissing at the cool tiles against his heated flesh.

Tobias looked Connor dead in the eyes, keeping the Inkling's gaze locked with his own; "I want you, Connor. I've wanted you since that moment you pinned me down on my back on that elevator." he whispered in a low tone. Pressing his free hand against the Inkling's chest, Tobias continued with a lick of his lips; "The way you stared at me back then? I _know_ you were able to see me through the brainwashing. Such a... hunger in your eyes. I wanted to just forget the surface was right above me. That Pearl and Marina could hear me. That the Cap'n could _see_ me. I just wanted you to take me right then and there... to have your way with me however you wanted..."

Connor clenched his jaw, feeling his body responding to Tobias' closeness and touches, as well as his words; "T-Tobi... you _know_ I don't... remember much from that..."

"Then we'll just make new memories." was all Tobias whispered before roughly pushing himself flush up against Connor, their lips coming together in a heated kiss. Tobias' didn't bother asking for permission as he took advantage of Connor gasping when the Octoling gave his cock a firm squeeze, slipping his tongue within the hot wet cavern of the Inkling's mouth.

Connor moaned lewdly and closed his eyes, his hands instantly coming up to caress every inch of the pale naked flesh that was sliding wetly against his own body, arms wrapping around him and holding him closer against himself as Tobias' hand continued to quickly fist his straining erection.

Breaking the kiss and leaning back a little, Tobias licked his lips again before moaning; "I know you want me too, Connor." Moving past Connor and placing his palms flat against the shower wall, Tobias stood beneath the yellow ink-water spraying down, curving his back in order to fully present his exposed backside to the Inkling. Looking over his shoulder, he whined lewdly; "And we _both_ know that we _both_ want _you_ to _fuck me_."

"Fuck, Tobi..." Connor breathlessly sighed while finally falling under the Octoling's spell. Taking just two steps to now be standing directly behind the enticing backside being offered to him, Connor's hands found purchase on Tobias' thin hips as his hard shaft was swallowed nearly balls deep within the younger male's eager body.

"Ahh! Oh, Connor! Yes!!" Tobias cried out, head thrown back and lips parted to allow him to moan uncontrollably. "Ahh, Connor! Right there! Fuck, yes! H-harder!!" he shouted, moaning wantonly and loudly, not even caring if their neighbors could hear them. Let them!

"Nng, T-Tobi... you're so... fucking tight!" Connor gasped as his hips began a frantic pace, their skin slapping wetly together as the Inkling's thrust became harder the more the Octoling begged for it.

"Ooh~! Mmm, just for you, Connor! Ahh!" Tobias cried, his own hips shoving backwards against Connor's movements, the action causing both males to shout loudly in pure euphoric bliss.

Connor never had sex with another male before and holy hell had he been missing out! Becoming lost within the building pleasure they were drowning each other in, the sounds of their bodies coming together barely reached their ears over their desperate moans and shouts.

Tobias' body suddenly shuddered; "Oh god, oh god... Connor! Connor, I-I'm going to come soon!"

"I'm not far behind you, Tobi." Connor managed to gasp between his harsh thrusts.

Tobias glanced over his shoulder, pink eyes locking with teal as he cried out desperately; "Connor! Come inside me! Ahh! Come inside me, Connor!!"

"Holy shit, Tobias!" With a final violent snap of Connor's strong hips, he locked up; pressing his lips against Tobias' back between his shoulders as he held himself in place deeply inside the trembling body before him, mind blanking out as he came hard within the intoxicating tight heat that he instantly became addicted to and coating the Octoling's insides with his essence. "Nng! Fuuuck... Tobi..."

"Ahh!? Connor!" Tobias gave a final shout as he too reached his climax, body jerking and tightening around Connor's shaft greedily that was still twitching out his release within him, his own splattering and painting the shower wall he had just been blissfully fucked against. "Aahh... fuck, Connor... mmm..."

Just as Connor finished and was about to collapse against the heavily panting Octoling, his eyes snapped wide open and vision was greeted by his bedroom wall.  
*  
... What...?

Taking his brain longer than normal to fully restart, he finally realized what happened. He just had... the most vivid wet dream of his entire life. Swallowing hard as he could already feel a burning ache within his neither regions, he slowly snaked his trembling right hand downwards, horror filling him as his fingertips brushed against the front of his crotch, the faint touches sending jolts of electrical pleasure coursing through him upon feeling his semi hard-on forming inside his shorts. _'Shit! I... I can't remember the last time I had such an intense and... AMAZING wet dream...'_

It's ok. All he needed to do was just slip out of bed, and take a nice quick cold shower. Easy. He wasn't aroused enough to be a _huge_ problem, and the cold ink-water should kill it quickly. Just as he moved to get up, Connor was horrified once again as a lean yet strong arm draped over his waist kept him firmly in place.

Upon glancing over his shoulder, the Inkling let out a strangled whine; Tobias was once again curled right up behind his back, his pink tentacle wrapped around the top of his head where the tip of it was tickling Connor's forehead. Beginning to internally panic now, Connor unintentionally started to fidget, his squirming soon having Tobias responding in his sleep.

The Octoling let out a groan while tightening his hold around the Inkling and snuggled closer against him. Teal eyes were open impossibly wide as he froze, face and ears burning the instant the younger male began nuzzling his face against the four small tentacles located at the back of Connor's neck.

The Inkling released a strangled whine as, much to his horror, his shaft was now fully and painfully erect; causing the front of his shorts to tent noticeably as his cock ached and strained against the fabric.

"Mmm... wha' time is it...?" the Octoling groggily asked.

It took Connor several long seconds to collect himself before he trusted his voice. Glancing at the small clock on the nightstand, he groaned upon actually seeing the time; "It's seven thirteen..."

A muffled whine came from behind him as Tobias nuzzled his small tentacles, "Why so early...?" The Octoling took a deep inhale, waking up more as he took in Connor's scent. Realizing he was holding the Inkling, he yawned and stretched while slipping his arm from around the other and rolling onto his back.

The instant Tobias' arm was pulled away from Connor, the Inkling bolted out of bed and dashed to the bathroom.

Tobias blinked and sat up, looking over to where his friend had just been laying. "You gotta go, you gotta go I guess?" He then shrugged and snuggled back down against his pillow, hesitating for a moment before grabbing Connor's pillow and pulling it against him in an embrace, burying his face deeply into the dark blue case and inhaling, he felt a veil of calmness cover him as the Inkling's scent soothed him back into a light sleep.

Connor stood staring at himself in the mirror, glancing down after a moment more of denial. There was no denying the evidence that he had very much enjoyed that dream. Trying to just will his erection away did nothing but make it ache even more. So he stripped and jumped into the shower, his body shivering as he was instantly hit with vivid memories from his wet dream.

Turning the ink-water on after making sure it was yellow, he stood under the warm spray for a moment before turning it cold. _That_ even did nothing to calm his hard-on as it continued to ache for attention.

He stared. How long _has_ it been actually since he last paid attention to his body and needs? He's been single for a while now, and even before then he couldn't remember the last time he had at least pleasured himself. With a heavy sigh, he turned the ink-water to a comfortable temperature before slowly bringing his left hand towards his shaft, biting back a moan that threatened to sound as he grasped himself.

With how turned on he apparently still was from his dream, he felt this wouldn't take him long. No one would have to know. It's his own little secret as he closed his eyes and began fisting himself, allowing the memories of his dream to flood his mind as he bit back his sounds of pleasure. "T-Tobi..."

**~~~**

Tobias sat on the couch with his legs crossed, pink eyes skimming the words on the screen of Connor's laptop as he continued to try to find any information on himself. Glancing down to the time at the corner, he noticed Connor had been in the bathroom for quite some time. "That's not like him to take a shower so early like this unless he's going somewhere, and I know he doesn't have anywhere to go. Plus, he was acting a bit... strange." Tobias then suddenly blinked while feeling a pink hue tint his cheeks. "Ohmygosh... what if...?" he paused verbally talking to himself. Last thing he needs is the Inkling to overhear him.

 _'A guy only takes a shower that quick and panicked after just waking up for, more often than not, ONE particular reason...'_ Pink eyes stared down the hall and towards where the bathroom door was still shut, the sound of the ink-water still running. Could Connor...? Well, that would explain why the Inkling was so spazzy with his arm draped over him like it was. If Connor _did_ wake up with morning wood, he was certain his arm placement over the older Agent's hip had his hand _pretty_ damn close to it...

He then felt his face flushing at the thought before sighing and becoming upset with himself, "I'm so hopeless... _why_ can't I just tell him? I have no trouble talking to him any other time."

As he went back to the laptop, he took notice of his right palm being itchy. As he scratched it, he blinked while staring at his hand. Three long scars lined his palm while smaller ones lined each digit in about the same spot. He had been dying to remember what could have caused the scars, but so far nothing came to mind but faint flashes. He had been holding a broken shard of glass...

And he remembers looking down at his bloody hand... the glass was obviously the cause for the scars but, why did he have it? Did he hurt someone? Did he hurt himself? He just couldn't remember!

Shaking those thoughts from his mind, he sat the laptop on the coffee table and got to his feet. He was concerned about Connor. Heading over towards the bathroom, his knuckles just about came into contact against the door when it opened suddenly, causing him to jump slightly before staring at the Inkling standing just as startled before him.

All he wore was a towel he held loosely on his hips...

Resisting to lick his lips, Tobias turned on his heel and quickly went back to the couch, "I-I'm sorry! I was just coming to see if you were ok!"

Connor let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in and excused himself to his bedroom to get dressed.

Staring at his reflection in the mirror, Connor sighed while tugging on his tentacles in frustration before pulling them up into a hair tie. He couldn't keep doing this by himself. With everything that happened to him with his ex... he didn't trust his choices. Glancing over to his phone, Connor took a deep breath while typing out his message; hitting Send before he could change his mind.

_Val. You want to talk? I'll talk. Private match at 1600. You and me. Do NOT tell Tobi._

He sighed and threw his phone on the bed, "What am I doing...?"

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't mean for this one to come out so long. And I'm being really hard on Connor. XD Anyways, enjoy~!


	9. Confessions Are Never Easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor, finally at his wits end about his feelings for Tobias, breaks his pride enough to speak with Valerie. Once his friend manages to talk some calming sense into him, he plans to at last tell his roommate about his feelings for him and prays it doesn't ruin their friendship. Of course, confessions are never easy and nothing can ever go as planned.

Valerie glanced down at her phone, sighing as she saw the time reading 16:o8; "It's almost ten past four. Where is he? He's never late." Just then, a noise caught her attention. She glanced up, about to call out to her friend until she was shushed by him placing a finger over his lips.

Motioning with his head for her to follow, Connor changed into his squid form and slipped through the grate that lead to Octo Canyon.

"What in the world...?" She followed with no other questions being asked.

Coming out the other side, Valerie was startled by Connor standing and waiting for her; dressed in his Hero Gear and holding her's out for her to take.

**~~~**

"So... I'll be the first to admit that this is a weird spot for us to be hanging out." Agent Four finally said after the two of them had arrived to the location for about five minutes.

She and Agent Three had used a newly installed launching pad that lead to the remains of NILS. The two of them were at the edge, Agent Three was sitting while Agent Four stood slightly behind him, staring out over the water and Inkopolis city far off in the distance.

"Cap'n Cuttlefish and Marina thought it would be a good idea to keep a close eye on this place. Just to be safe. And I didn't want to risk anyone listening to us." he answered softly, his tone unlike him and proved something big was on his mind.

"Right. So, what exactly _is_ this thing?"

"NILS. The statue of a human that the A.I. nearly used to kill all of us." Connor answered while subconsciously moving to rub at the back of his head where he had been hit back with Tobias fought him while he was partially sanitized.

"So _this_ is NILS... Marina and Tobi talked about it a lot. Speaking of which, what's going on? You said you wanted to talk.. and I'm assuming because you said not to tell Tobi, this is about him?" she smiled.

"Yes." Connor was being very short and straight to the point with his answers she noticed.

She tried to get him to loosen up a bit as she sensed his mounting anxiety; "Aww, lighten up. You're so tense! I'm sure whatever you have to talk about isn't anything _bad_ ~!"

"Val, please. This is hard enough already for me, alright? Your teasing isn't making it any easier." Connor snapped, already feeling his patience running thin.

The female Inkling stopped instantly, her eyes going wide for a jiffy before narrowing into a seriousness that nearly made Connor ask if _she_ were alright. "I'm sorry. You're right, all joking aside. What _exactly_ is going on with you that _you_ wanted _me_ of all people to talk to?"

Sighing while setting his Hero Shot down beside him and looking out over the water, Connor finally started talking. And once he did, he almost couldn't stop; "Val, I... I don't know what's wrong with me anymore. No matter what I do. No matter what I think... I-I can't keep... Tobias off my mind..." He looked down at his hands, becoming slightly annoyed as they began trembling and he couldn't stop them. "I'm always thinking about him, and I constantly catch myself staring at him. Especially when ever he smiles or laughs, I stare just so I can commit the way he looks and sounds to memory. I haven't felt this way towards anybody... for a long time... and it's almost scaring me. I mean, was I really that fucked up by what _she_ did to me... that I'm not only finding another _guy_ attractive? But an _Octoling_ to top it off??"

Valerie stared. Holy shit, she wasn't expecting _this_ bomb shell... but she could definitely work with it. Especially when then the last thing he said had her snapping back into action, "Connor, what she did to you hurt you. Hell it _devastated_ you. But, that's _not_ the reason why you're beginning to feel the way you are towards somebody else. The most that experience did to you was destroy your trust in your partner. Developing feelings for Tobias, is a sign that you're hearts are not only starting to heal, but are ready to try and move past that painful scar and move on. You see something in Tobias that is obviously special enough to have sparked what was once ruined for you." She smiled warmly and cautiously sat next to the tense Agent, removing her large boots and setting them behind herself and away from the edge before crossing her legs.

Connor sighed, dropping his hands in his lap and looking off to the side, avoiding eye contact with the Agent sitting beside him. "That's just it. My trust... I-I don't want to ruin the friendship we have because of my trust issues. I mean, knowing my luck, he'll be grossed out knowing another male likes him."

Valerie bit her lower lip, weighing the options of keeping everything the way it is for the sake of them building their bond on their on, or coming out and telling Connor that Tobias likes him back. Her conscience getting the better of her when she remembered she _promised_ Tobias not to tell Connor, she sighed and placed a hand to his shoulder trying to help out without giving too much away; "Well, try small subtly hints then? A little flirting here, a little flirting there... The worse that'll happen is he'll give off signs if he's weirded out and then move on from there?" She offered in advice, hoping it would be helpful.

Connor thought for a moment before speaking softly, "I don't know, Val... I mean, I don't even know how old he is! What if he's a lot younger than me?? We don't know much about Octolings... they could age differently than Inklings."

"I don't think that's the case. I'm pretty sure they age about the same as us. And I don't think he's too off from your age. You're twenty, right?" she asked with a tilt to her head. Upon getting a curt nod from the male, she continued; "Look. Doing _nothing_ but sitting here dwelling on the 'What-if's' certainly won't get you any closer to knowing how Tobias feels about you. Besides, you may not have noticed you were, but I've actually sorta picked up that you were flirting with him several times during our last couple of Turf War matches today. And Tobi didn't really seem to mind..." she hinted with a gentle nudge of her elbow, seeing Connor perking up a bit at that information. "Chloe broke your hearts, but don't let that destroy your chance at finding true happiness with the _right_ person... You like Tobias. I think he deserves to know." She smiled kindly at him.

Connor made a face that was the closest to a pout that Valerie had ever seen him make as he mumbled more to himself, "Well I think it's an understatement to say that I _like_ him considering last night I dreamed I fucked him in my shower..." Teal eyes then snapped wide open as he slapped a hand loudly over his mouth.

Valerie stared at him, a noticeable blush dusting her cheeks. "O-oh mai..."

"Oh my god... So help me, Val. You _will_ forget you heard that." he warned, his face easily two shades darker than his normal tan.

But Valerie saw this as an opportunity, "Connor... if you're having _wet_ dreams about him... you _really_ need to talk to him and try to find out how he could feel about you. All you're doing by keeping it locked up inside is torturing yourself. These feelings you have for him sounds to me like they're _more_ than just a cute little crush. And if that's the case, they will _not_ just go away..."

Connor frowned, not wanting to admit it but knew she was right. "Thanks, Val. For listening and talking to me." he finally said. He then turned to her and gave her a genuine smile, one that reminded her of her 'cute little crush' she had on him when they first met; "You're right. I'll talk to him tonight at home."

"Hey, what're friends for?" she smiled back and gave him a thumbs up, excited to know that tonight may be the night the two boys are no longer single!

**~~~**

Valerie, Tobias, Callie and Marie were all hanging out in the large room that was above the studio where Off the Hook did their announcements. Pearl and Marina managed to score the room and gave it to the Agents to allow them a safe place to hang out and still be able to talk 'Agent stuff', all while being within the city.

Callie and Marie were sitting on the couch with the t.v. muted, discussing a possible new song while Tobias and Valerie were sitting on high bar stools at a tall table, playing a card game while talking quietly.

"Hey, Tobi... do you happen to know how old you are?" Valerie inquired casually.

The Octoling blinked and looked up from his cards. That was a random question and he began thinking if she was trying to distract him from the game, but as he thought about it that couldn't be the case because no... he didn't; "N-no. I don't remember exactly. But I want to say something like eighteen... that sounds familiar and right. Why?"

"Eighteen, hunh? Perfect." she grinned and moved some of her cards around in her hand.

"Valerie? Why did you want to know my age?"

The female Inkling remained silent for a few seconds, looking over her cards before drawing one and setting it down. "Connor's twenty."

Tobias couldn't help it as his stomach did a small flip at the male Inkling's name. He then smiled and stared down at his cards. Connor is twenty? If he was right about his own age... then he and Connor were only two years apart... that's a perfectly normal age gap between couples!

Valerie continued on after a moment more of silence was passed between the two of them, "Speaking of Connor... how's the whole coming up with a plan to talk to him coming along?" Valerie asked with a grin.

Tobias sighed, his moment of happiness gone just as quickly as it had come. "I'm... still not so sure. What if I end up freaking him out and ruining our friendship?"

_'Ugh! Not you too!'_ she mentally screamed but verbally said; "Mmm... I don't think that'll be the case..."

Tobias blinked and lowered his cards, "What makes you say that?"

Valerie leaned over the table, "Dude... I've been keeping my eyes on you two. You may not have noticed but you've actually been pretty flirty with him lately and... he doesn't exactly back away from it. If you know what I mean?" Her green eyes sparkled.

The Octoling felt his face heating up. "R-really? So do you... think that he might... like it?"

She leaned back on her stool and took her cards up, "Well I ain't exactly saying he hates it, am I?"

Tobias couldn't help the huge grin that nearly split his face, "Oh man... just hearing that makes me want to go to Connor right now and tell him how I feel. I should, shouldn't I? As long as I still have the guts to go tell Connor I really like him!"

"Whaaaaaaat!?!"

Tobias nearly died while Valerie paled slightly. Callie was now sitting right next to the horrified Octoling. She and Marie were apparently able to pick up the last part of their conversation as Tobias unintentionally got louder the more excited be got; "Tobi!?! Oh my gosh! I had a _feeling_ you were smitten with him just the way you look at Connor!!"

"N-now, now Callie... don't get too excited. Tobias is still trying to get the courage to even tell Connor. I've been trying to help him for a little bit now." Valerie had gotten up and moved over towards the pop star, trying to get her to calm down since Tobias was looking on the verge of dying from embarrassment.

Callie's eyes were wide, "Ohmygosh! Let me help! Please?? You two would make the _cutest_ couple! And Connor needs some love in his life again! He's so grumpy!"

Tobias quickly returned to normal and blinked, slowly standing up since their card game was currently on hold. "'Again'?"

"Hunh? Oh... he doesn't know?" Callie asked Valerie.

Valerie sighed with a slightly concerned expression, "Callie. That's... not really our business to discuss with him about. Look, let's just focus on trying to get these two to talk together first."

"So does this mean I can help!?!" Callie asked, already changing the obviously sour subject much to Tobias' disappointment.

Valerie personally had nothing against Callie, she just felt that maybe this was too 'delicate' of a situation for someone as... energetic as she. The 'delicate' part of course is dealing with Connor. But she couldn't say no to the pop star's adorable pout. So with a heavy sigh, Valerie reluctantly nodded her head.

Callie squealed excitedly, "Yay!! This is going to be great! We'll have you two hooked up by the end of the day!"

"You think this is a good idea having her help?" Valerie walked over to Marie who had remained quiet the entire time.

Marie rolled her shoulder, "Well, it can honestly go either very good or very bad considering this _is_ Callie."

Valerie groaned, "Hopefully it's in our favor and goes good."

Just then, as if on queue, Connor walked in carrying a box of supplies that Cap'n Cuttlefish had requested. Upon seeing the room full of the other Agents, he slowly sat the box down and cleared his throat. "So... is this a party or an intervention? Either one has me concerned because I wasn't invited to either."

Tobias couldn't help but chuckle, about to answer him when Callie wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug, one of her long tentacles wrapping around his waist and left arm to further ensure he couldn't escape her hold; "Oh, it's nothing like that, _Connor_! Little Tobi here has just admitted to _really_ liking a certain _Inkling boy_ we all know, and so we're all gonna try and help him to get the guts he needs to come out and confess to him!" she giggled while rubbing her cheek against the Octoling's.

Tobias went red in the face, suddenly unable to look at Connor. Valerie stared at Callie with her mouth agape and Marie covered her face with her palm while groaning. This was escalating _far_ too quickly.

Connor was silent for a moment, teal eyes open wide in surprise. Tobias... likes an Inkling? And its a boy... that _they all know_?? Could it be...? No. He was jumping to a possibility too fast. But then again, Valerie _did_ seem like she was dropping some pretty big hints the last they spoke... Feeling a wave of confidence washing over him, Connor puffed his chest out slightly and approached the flushed Octoling, "Oh _really_? So... who _is_ the lucky squid, Tobi?" he asked in a low voice. Try being a little flirty, got it!

Tobias felt his hearts pounding against his chest in a shockingly pleasant way at the look Connor gave him as well as the tone of voice the Inkling spoke to him in as it caused a lovely wave of shivers to pass over his entire being. So sultry and being accompanied with such a flirtatious smirk, Tobias suddenly felt the courage he had been searching for to confess to him at last! Right here, right now; "W-well... _Connor_... it's a funny thing that _you_ should ask. You see... I've... been thinking about this for a while now and well... I really like the times we've spent together. Connor, what I'm trying to say is that I really like yo-"

"Oh, stop being so darn awkward!! Just ask him to help you out already! And don't worry, Connor. The lucky squid Tobi likes isn't anyone _you_ know, so it won't be weird or anything!"

Tobias felt his mouth suddenly go dry as Callie interrupted him. Why did she have to do that? And what she said?? He was so close to telling Connor! It's okay... maybe there's still a chance to fix this and tell him now? Lifting his pink eyes to look into teal, his hearts felt like they suddenly plummeted into his stomach and it _hurt_ at the look on the male Inkling's face.

Valerie saw it too, although unlike Tobias who couldn't quit make out the main emotion the male was experiencing, _she_ knew it was a look of pure crushing dejection.

Connor's eyes were open wide, his gaze not really focusing on or seeing anything while his ears and tentacles drooped heavily. He held his breath, hoping it would help ease the sudden sharp stabbing that ached his chest. _'So... it... it **isn't** me then... Fuck. Why am I'm so stupid?'_ "O-oh... I see." he finally responded, lowering his eyes to the ground and avoiding any and all eye contact as he swallowed the painful lump that became stuck in his throat.

"So... you wanna help us out?! I'm sure with _yoooooou_ helping, little Tobi here will be able to confess his feelings and win the heart of the squid kid he's got the hots for!!" Callie cheered, too excited to have picked up on the sudden change in Connor and the entire room.

"I... I would love to help." Connor began, causing Callie to fist-pump the air followed by a small shake to the Octoling she still clung to while a small hopeful smile curl on Tobias' lips. Suddenly however, just as Valerie secretly feared, Connor panicked and had secluded within himself once again; "But-something's just come up that I remembered. I promised a friend that I'd help them out with a new weapon they're trying to main, so... I-I'll have to help you out later. Good luck with it though. Tobi, you'll be fine, just be yourself. I'll... check up on you guys later. There's the stuff the Cap'n asked for by the way..." he hastily spilled the words from his mouth while equally as quickly stumbled out of the room.

Tobias moved to give chase, but Valerie was already out the door.

"No, no, no, no, no. Connor! Please, wait!" she shouted, running after the upset Inkling. She knew Connor enough by now to know that this didn't help his already confused and jumbled up state of mind.

Connor had stopped halfway down the stairs but quickly whipped around, holding his hand out to her to keep her from speaking. "Don't make this any more worse than it already is. Please, Val. Just... leave me alone for a bit? Alright? Look, I know you just want to help but I just... I _really_ just need to be alone for right now..." He turned and took two more steps down until Valerie's voice had him pausing against mid-step.

"Connor, _please_ just let Tobias talk to you! Callie shouldn't have said what she did! She' wrong!" she tried to explain without coming right out and telling him herself. She still firmly believed this was something Tobias needed to do on his own. She then gasped when he turned halfway to face her, seeing something she never in a million years thought she would, causing her to become speechless and ultimately granting him the chance to flee;

Connor practically breaking down right before her eyes...

" _Please..._ just stop. I _can't_ right now, Val... I'm _sorry_." Connor _begged_ in a cracked whisper as his eyes became glassy, tears brought on by the hurt, rejection and humiliation he was feeling threatening to fall at any moment. Before allowing them the chance to slide down his cheeks, he turned on his heel while rubbing his face in the crook of his elbow, mumbling under his breath but still loud enough she was able to hear; "I think... it would've been better had I _never_ said anything to you about this... Because then I wouldn't have so foolishly believed I actually had a chance." He quickly left the still shocked female Agent behind.

"Connor..." Waiting a moment more just on the unlikely case he would come back, she sighed and turned back towards the building, entering it and bracing herself.

"Val!! What happened!? Where's Connor!?!" Callie cried out while nearly throwing herself at Agent Four.

Valerie managed to keep herself from falling over, her green eyes finding the worried-filled pink of Tobias, causing her hearts to sting. "He... left. Wants to be alone for now."

Tobias loudly set his drink down, his eyes wide and staring at Valerie, "W-why does he want... to be left alone...?"

"He... didn't take the news too well that _apparently_ Tobias likes an Inkling Connor doesn't know." she hinted while narrowing her eyes at Callie. She knew Callie meant well she just... had a hard time expressing her helpfulness sometimes.

Tobias lowered his gaze to the floor. "What... should I do?"

" _You_ need to talk to him, Tobi. We'll help you track him down." Marie smirked while already heading out the door.

"Tobi," Valerie spoke softly after moving to stand beside the young Octoling. "I kept my promise. I didn't tell Connor anything. But I _haven't_ exactly been telling you the full truth either. I've... sorta been playing double Agent. He's been talking to me about pretty much the same thing you're going through. I refuse to go into much detail about it but _please_ listen to me when I say you _have_ to speak with him about this because he has the completely _wrong_ idea and is so close to giving up..." she plead with her hints.

Tobias blinked, feeling his hearts beginning to beat faster. "Val. Does... does Connor like me too...?"

She verbally didn't say anything, but her eyes said it all.

He bolted out the door and made his way towards their shared apartment; _'Please be there, Connor!'_

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm such a bitch... I'm so sorry for the awful cliffy. ;_;
> 
> Next chapter won't take as long to post, I promise!


	10. To Confess At Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After leaving the others in an upset hurry, Connor spends some much needed alone time to go over his current situation and sort things out. After calming down and ultimately coming to a heartbreaking decision, he returns to his and Tobias' shared apartment to set things straight mostly for himself and insure their friendship was not in danger. Little does Connor know that, upon seeing him come home, Tobias becomes filled with a strong determination to set things right and to at last come out and confess to the Inkling how he feels about him. Tobias just _prays_ that he hadn't misread Valerie's hints that Connor apparently shares the same feelings for the Octoling.

Connor silently kept going through his locker within the gym, not really feeling up to working out or doing any battles, but at the same time not really wanting to return home just yet. He wasn't ready to face Tobias and most likely the others yet. He also knew that he shouldn't really be out in the open where he could be easily spotted because considering how he left, they were most likely going to be forming a search party for him soon.

Wouldn't be the first time.

That's mainly why he stopped by the gym. He had spare clean clothes that he hasn't really worn recently so he should be able to blend in with the city quite easily. All he wanted to do was just go for a walk. Away from it all for a while. He really just needed some time to himself to sort through his feelings and to decide what his next move was going to be. Seeing yet another apology text from Callie flashing on his phone, Connor quietly snorted and set the device to 'Do Not Disturb' before setting it inside his locker.

He knew if they _really_ wanted to find him, they would just track his cell phone. About to shut the door to the locker, something hanging caught his eye, making them narrow as he scoffed. It was his Splatfest Tee. The teams he didn't really care for... but it _had_ been a while since he last participated in a Splatfest and this was Tobias' first one since coming to the surface. How do you prefer your orange juice? Team Pulp versus Team No Pulp... He had explained to Tobias how Splatfest works and together they both chose Team No Pulp. The Octoling seemed super excited to be playing in his first Splatfest with Connor, the Inkling himself knowing he certainly was.

It was this weekend actually; two days to be more precise.

_'Guess that doesn't matter now... I'm sure he'll be playing with his crush. Hopefully whoever this Inkling is Tobi likes picked the same team at least.'_ He frowned while accidentally slamming his locker door shut. After making sure it was locked, Connor sighed through his nose and placed his Woolly Urchins Classic hat on his head, minding his yellow tentacles and heading out of the building, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his Matcha Down Jacket. Not really having a destination in mind, the Sun  & Shade Squidkid shoes on his feet automatically took him to the sewer drain that lead into Octo Canyon.

Coming through to the other side, he sighed with relief as he was greeted by no one but silence. D.J. Octavio however was still present within his snow globe.

Upon seeing the infamous Agent Three looking downright miserable, the D.J. smirked wickedly; "Aww, what's got you so bent out of shape on this lovely day, Agent?"

Not really in the mood to deal with the Octarian leader, Connor simply glared at him from under the brim of his hat and spat before turning his back to him and walking away; "Piss off D.J.. Not in the mood for your shit right now..."

D.J. Octavio blinked, eyes wide as he stared after the Inkling in offended shock. "Well... that was rude."

After making double sure no one else was around, Connor moved to the edge of the large floating land and Super jumped over towards the rocky structure that encircled the entire canyon like a crater. This was the perfect place to get much needed fresh air and open space to think. No one would think to find him here and there were no enemies, though he had his Hero Shot with him just to be safe, and it easily offered miles of ample walking space.

And so... he began walking and thinking.

***Meanwhile***

Tobias was pacing back and forth nearly the entire length of the large room above Off the Hook's studio, his distraught expression being seen by the many Inklings and Octolings walking around the square.

He had returned to the 'hang out' as they've all agreed to call the room after running towards his and Connor's shared apartment. The Inkling wasn't there much to Tobias' dismay. He was _really_ hoping the older male was there. They would've not only had been alone, but within familiar walls as well so it would've been easier to break the tension.

But alas, nothing appeared out of place. So it seemed like Connor hadn't returned home at all yet.

Tobias stopped his frantic pacing and smiled up at the door upon hearing it opening. However, his smile quickly fell as Marie was the one who entered.

"Any luck??" Callie nearly whined while running up to her cousin.

"No. His phone was left in his locker and no one has seen him since he left the gym. He's also changed his clothes... so it's clear he obviously doesn't want to stick out. I hate to admit it, but Connor is the type of person that, if he doesn't want to be found, he won't be found." Marie sighed while taking a seat on a stool.

Tobias felt his chest tighten up at that thought. If only _he_ could find him and talk to him... then he could clear this whole thing up. He sat down at the table where Valerie had been watching him from, her green eyes sparkling with worry. Picking up the freshly brewed hot tea that Valerie had made for him, Tobias frowned while bringing the yellow glass mug to his lips, enjoying the sensation of the heat from the steam soothing his lips.

The cup had been a gift from Valerie. A sort of 'gag gift' as it was yellow, and featured a little decal of a tiny squid near the bottom.

Callie pouted and collapsed in the chair she had been sitting in, "This is all my fault. I was only just trying to help... I didn't mean for Connor to just up and _leave_ like this. I just figured if Connor and Tobi spent a lot of time alone together focusing on things like dates and flirting and stuff, then Tobi would've gotten the courage to have spoken up."

Tobias suddenly threw her a mildly annoyed look that went unnoticed by everyone. He didn't have it in him to tell her that he _was_ going to confess to Connor just before she interrupted him.

"We know you meant well, Callie. We also all know Connor well enough by now to know that whenever he's upset, he needs his space. He'll come back soon. But once he does, I _think_ it's about time that Tobias talks to him. One on one. If anyone can fix this, it's you, Tobi." Valerie suggested with a warm smile.

The Octoling sighed while looking down at the the mug still in his hands, "You're right..." He was just trying to figure out what it was he was needed to fix? Why was Connor so upset? Did it upset him knowing now that Tobias was attracted to another male? Did it freak him out? Was he offended? He sighed at the sudden and endless wave of thoughts that came at him.

This has just become a huge mess... maybe he should've never said anything to Valerie? But then again, what Valerie had said to him after Connor left. She basically told him with her eyes that Connor apparently feels the same for him... but is that was true, why did Connor leave like that instead of staying to talk to him about it?

He had also looked so heartbroken... it broke Tobias' hearts just remembering the Inkling's expression.

**~~~**

He had glanced down at his watch once he noticed the sun was beginning to set. It was just past eight in the evening... which means he's been out here walking around for just under three hours.

Sighing as he knew he would have to return home sooner or later, he decided to walk around once more and this time actually think long and hard about what had happened earlier...

Thinking about it now that he's calmed down, he really had no right to be so upset. Of _course_ Tobias would find someone within Inkopolis... For all he knew, it was most likely one of Valerie's friends seeing how the two of them have been spending so much time together as of late. Hell, she was probably even playing match maker! He just regrets that he opened up so much to her about his own feelings for Tobias.

Because of her, he had fully _accepted_ his confusing feelings for the male Octoling. Even going out of his way to act like more of what seemed to have interested the younger Agent. In the end however... it seems like all of his efforts were wasted...

Tobias was apparently already crushing on some other Inkling... so then maybe he was actually just angry with himself for taking so damn long to just come to terms with his own feelings? Valerie had insisted to not let his past ruin a possible future with Tobias... and yet, it seems like it _still_ did.

Connor's pace slowed until finally coming to a complete stop, his Hero Shot held very loosely in his right hand. Teal eyes staring out over the ocean, the remains of NILS could be seen in the far distance and only made his realization of the situation sink in harder as hazy memories flooded his mind. He really _was_ a fool for even _thinking_ that Tobias would be even remotely interested in him. After all he had put the poor guy through, he'd be insane!

"I tried to kill you, Tobias. Numerous times." he spoke softly to the wind. "Why _would_ you like me as anything more than just a friend? Dammit, I'm so stupid... I really don't know what I was thinking could actually come from the concept of being in a relationship with you, Tobias. But I promise, I won't let my screwed up feelings and mind get in the way and ruin our friendship."

With a deep sigh, Connor finally came to a heartbreaking decision on the entire situation. Despite what Valerie had said, he was sure this 'crush' on Tobias would eventually go away. In the mean time, he wouldn't allow himself to act out anymore on his feelings. He did not want to lose the Octoling as a friend. "I should go back now... a-and try to help him out like a friend should." He felt his chest ache painfully just at the thought of seeing Tobias in a relationship with another Inkling boy, and being one of ones that _helped_ him into the relationship... but there was nothing Connor could do about it. He was upset and even jealous but had no right to keep acting the way he was. He refused to be so selfish as to allow his actions to possibly end up causing Tobias to feel guilty.

"As long as you're happy, Tobi. That's what matters and what I care about. With everything you've been through... you deserve happiness. Even if... it's not with me..." With a heavy sigh and even heavier hearts, Connor made yet another painful decision at that moment. Even though deep in the back of his mind he knew he was too young for such a choice and really shouldn't make it _and_ that he would surely catch pure hell from Valerie once she found out, but he took the devastation he felt in the past and combined it with the dejection from this experience and, upon seeing how strong his feelings were during both scenarios and how horribly wrong he had been and badly he hurt afterwards because of his mistakes, he could and would no longer trust his emotions pertaining to _anything_ that had a connection with romance.

_He_ was clearly the problem fool that, despite thinking he was guarded and more prepared with his feelings this time, was too quick and easily talked into seeing a potential in something that was doomed to blow up in his face. So he will just spare everyone the time and hassle that his obviously defective emotions had him wasting and would just remain alone.

**~~~**

Standing now before his apartment door, Connor took a deep breath while taking out his key. He was able to retrieve his phone and belongings from his locker without running into anyone, which surprised him, he thought the others would be swarming the square. That of course didn't necessarily mean Tobias was home. _'Maybe he's out? Wouldn't be surprised if the girls already have him out on a date with who ever it is he likes. Once they set their minds to something, it's impossible to change them.'_ he sighed through his nose, pushing the door open after unlocking it.

The kitchen light was on, a sure sign between him and the Octoling to show that someone was home. Looking around the clean apartment, Connor didn't notice anything out of place or out of the ordinary. And it was silent- a good sign, as memories with his ex tried resurfacing. Setting his stuff down by the front door while shutting it and locking it, he began taking his shoes and jacket off.

Tobias suddenly came running out from the bedroom upon hearing the front door opening and closing, stopping just at the end of the hall way that opens into the living room and kitchen area. Pink eyes were open wide and staring at the Inkling as he was putting his shoes away and hanging his jacket.

"Connor, you're home..." he breathed, his tone filled with the evident worry he had been feeling due to the length of time the Inkling had been missing while not being heard from.

"Yeah... sorry about that, I didn't mean to stay out so late. It took my friend a lot longer to get the hang of his new weapon of interest. Chargers aren't for everyone and I tried to tell him that but he just wouldn't listen." he faked a laughed, keeping his head down and avoiding eye contact after taking his hat off and just tossing it somewhere in the closet. He thought he could do this, but his chest was tightening up and aching as if something inside was being squeezed to the point of cracking. Despite Tobias being home, Connor was still very adamant about everyone's plans working out and that Tobias has a _date_ with the unknown Inkling already. Hell they may have already kissed. Or shit, if things had _really_ hit perfectly for them right off the bat, maybe they've already fucked!?

Connor violently shook such bitter thoughts from his head, feeling his eyes stinging. _'What is WRONG with you!? Stop it! Just stop it! You promised yourself you'd be there for him to help. You're his friend, dammit! Start fucking acting like it!'_ he mentally screamed at himself. "So, how'd your day go? Any luck with your crush?" He finally collected himself enough to look Tobias in the eyes, forcing a very weak smile on his face.

Tobias knew it was fake. It was _painfully_ fake. He also had a very strong feeling that Connor was lying to him about helping a friend out. But he didn't question it. He frowned at the other's question though, "N-no. He... disappeared. I haven't been able to talk to him yet about how I feel..."

Connor snorted while tossing his keys on the kitchen counter, already not liking the guy. "What the hell? So what, he just up and left without a trace? Don't you have his number?"

"He... wouldn't answer his phone. Apparently it wasn't on him..." He hinted in a soft tone. Why couldn't this squid make the connection?! Connor was very clever and smart. Tobias wants to tell him, but with how jumbled up his nerves were at the moment, he could really use the Inkling's help. _'Come on, Connor... help me out here? Please?'_

However, Connor still remained painfully oblivious. "I thought the girls were going to help you try to talk to him? You mean to tell me _they_ couldn't track this guy down?" he interrogated while moving into the kitchen to pull a can from the fridge.

Tobias frowned even more upon seeing that it was a beer, knowing that Connor only drinks that whenever he was really stressed out or upset about something. He rubbed his arm through the maroon sleeve of the hoodie he had on as he stumbled over his words a little, "T-they tried... but he tends to make himself hard to find if he... wants to to be alone. Especially if he's... upset." _'Connor, please! Figure it out!!'_

The Inkling scoffed while popping the can open, taking a large swallow of the bitter and flavorless beverage. "Does this asshole even _know_ you like him?" He didn't mean to sound so harsh. But _now_ he was getting pissed that it apparently seemed like some jackass Tobias likes.

Too bad he just can't seem to realize the jackass is _him_.

Tobias flinched at first before tilting his head, a little baffled by Connor's sudden aggression. Valerie made it seem like Connor likes him, but now he's beginning to think maybe she was wrong. Connor, in his opinion, appeared almost angry. _Was_ he offended after all? Because honestly in Tobias' opinion, Connor did _not_ give off any immediate indications that he was even interested in guys. "I... well, I don't know. It... _seems_ like he does at times. I mean... lately it seems like he's been a little flirty towards me, but then there's other times that doesn't seem so..."

By this point, the Inkling was done. _'Oh. So they've been flirting with each other already! Well, that's just lovely! I wonder exactly how long I was going to be kept in the dark about this!?'_ He sneared while quickly downing his beer, the disgusting taste only agitating him further. "Alright. Look, it's been a long day for me, and by the sounds of it, it's been one for you too. I'll help you track down this guy tomorrow so that _you_ can talk to him, alright? Let's just... go to bed. It's late." He then moved to walk past the Octoling before pausing and looking back at him again. With a yellow brow cocked upwards, Connor tilted his head cutely to the side as he stared at the maroon Zekko Hoodie the younger male was wearing. To his knowledge... Tobias never bought one; "Is... that my sweater?"

Tobias felt his face become on fire. He had forgotten to take it off before running out of the room! "O-oh! I-I... um... well, you see... i-it was cold a-and I c-couldn't find any of mine...?" he stumbled over his words, his face burning to the point he could've pulled off being sick with fever.

Connor blinked, not really too sure what to make of Tobias' sudden odd behavior but decided he was too tired and too pissed off to dwell too much on it at the moment. Shaking his head, the Inkling simply chuckled tiredly while continuing into the bedroom.

Tobias, covering his face in embarrassed shame, slowly followed. Upon entering, he found the Inkling already stripped to his black sleep shorts and tank top, in bed and under the covers, his scarred back facing him. That alone was a solid sign that Connor _had_ in fact lied to him about helping someone practice. Every time Connor plays Turf, Ranked or even just goofing around, he _always_ takes a shower when he gets home; No matter how tired he is or what kind of mood he's in.

_'It's now or never...'_ "Connor. Listen, about what happened earlier--" he tried.

"Tobias, please. It's late. I'm tired... can't this wait until the morning? It's just getting annoying now." Connor spoke softly, his tone of voice nothing like Tobias has heard before. Connor was clearly upset... so Tobias began to think that it _did_ disgust him knowing he was now sharing his home with someone who liked another male. Regardless. He has to tell him!

Tobias then swallowed hard, knowing that couldn't be the case! It just couldn't! Valerie wouldn't lead him on like that if she wasn't pretty sure about something, and she was pretty spot on when it came to reading Connor. She _knows_ something about Connor and he needs to figure it out on his own! He has to just tell him! That's what Valerie keeps saying! He has to confess he likes the Inkling and fix this! All he was doing by stalling and thinking up millions of different possibilities behind Connor's reaction was just messing things up and making everything worse!

" _Connor!_ " he accidentally shouted, causing the Inkling to jump from being startled and sit up on his elbows. And did his voice crack a little just then?? Considering the look Connor was giving him... it did.

Clearing his throat, he forced himself to continue impressively firmly when Connor opened his mouth to interrupt him before shutting it again and letting the Octoling continue; "I was getting help from the others... t-they were trying to help me get the courage that I needed to... to speak with the Inkling boy that I _really_ like. To _tell_ him I really like him and that I want... to be with him as _more_ than just a friend." He felt his body beginning to tremble the more he spoke; "As... _more_ than just his _roommate_..." This was far worse than any of the tests he's done underground! 

Connor sat straight up after that last sentence, teal eyes open wide. Did... he just hear him correctly?? Taking a deep breath, Tobias forced the rest of the confession out hastily; "A-and that's what I'm _trying_ to do! _Right now!_ "

Connor's breath hitched in his throat as he processed what was just said. But before he could even breath again, Tobias continued as now that the confession was out, he couldn't stop all the details from flowing freely from his lips;

"Before I was touched by the Calamari Inkantation, I never really saw much of you. I always only heard about Agent Three, and received poor descriptions of his appearance. I do remember though that I was always shamefully-at the time mind you-fascinated by your fighting skills whenever I was able to watch footage of you on surveillance. I know I don't have even a fraction of my memories back... but when you saved us from that blender, _that_ was the first time I _can_ remember seeing your face so clearly. I remember now that back before I left the army, I used to portray you as this hideous monster," Tobias chuckled lightly while nervously lowering himself to sit on the edge of the bed by Connor's feet. Clearing his throat again, he stared down at his hands in his lap as he continued, "But as I stared at you while Cap'n Cuttlefish was talking... I couldn't help but notice the strong flutter in my chest as my hearts skipped beats. You... I had instantly found you to be the most attractive creature I could remember ever seeing."

Connor swallowed the hard lump that had formed in his throat. No way! "W-what...?" was all his broken brain could think of to say in a soft, breathless whisper. Was he reading this all wrong, or was Tobias... was he really confessing that it's actually _him_ he likes?!?

Tobias slowly looked over towards Connor, his light skin tone flushed a bright pink as he stared into Connor's wide teal eyes, the shyest of smiles on his face, "What I'm trying to say, and what I have _been_ trying to say is that I... I really like _you_ , Connor. And I'm so sorry that the way I went about admitting it was all wrong. I... don't know if I've ever really been in a relationship before with anyone, but I don't think I have... so I freaked out and panicked when I started liking _you_. I've been talking with Valerie about it for a few weeks and she's been trying to help me. Callie just came into the picture because she heard me say something to Valerie today. Be mad at me Connor, not them. They were only trying to help. I never meant for you to get offended." he whispered, finally looking away as he felt the sting of rejection piercing his hearts and burning his eyes even before the Inkling said anything.

Connor moved to place his feet on the floor and scooted over to now be sitting directly beside the upset Octoling, feeling his chest vibrating with how hard his hearts were pounding from his nerves, "Tobi... what in the world ever gave you the idea that I was offended?"

Tobias blinked and looked up again, feeling his breath leave him with how close the Inkling was to him now; "With how upset you were earlier when you left. It was obvious you were offended."

Connor couldn't help the small smile and little chuckle that came from him as he gently placed his hand to the blushing Octoling's heated cheek. Tobias was more cute than he was beginning to think he could handle; "Tobi, you really must _not_ have had many relationships in the past if you mistook my jealousy as me being offended."

It was Tobias now who stared at him wide-eyed. "J-jealousy?"

Connor nodded and leaned back a little, still keeping his hand to the Octoling's cheek, "When I came in and you guys mentioned that you liked an Inkling that was male and everybody knew him... I got so excited, and started selfishly thinking it was me. I had... become cocky I guess and instantly thought that I had chance with you." Connor's smile then faded, his hand slipping from Tobias' cheek and nearly causing the younger male to whine. "But then Callie had said that the one you like was someone that _I_ didn't know. So... I immediately felt crushed. The rejection was what stung first... which is what you all witnessed back there when I left. But then as I calmed down I realized that beneath the painful rejection, my jealousy started to rise. That was what... unfortunately you witnessed in the living room when I got home." Connor confessed, feeling ashamed of himself for his behavior. "In case you haven't noticed... I... don't manage _all_ of my emotions very well..."

Pink eyes were open wide in shock. So... he read Valerie's expression correctly. But, just to be sure; "C-Connor...? A-are you saying that you... like me too?" He gasped suddenly and looked down when he felt a hand take hold of his own on his lap. He felt his face warming up even more if it were possible upon seeing Connor's darker toned hand holding his lighter one. Before he could let out the breath he was holding, a tender touch caressed his cheek again and gently coaxed him to look back up towards the Inkling.

After knowing he had the Octoling's full attention, Connor lowered his hand from the younger male's cheek and placed it on the bed, slowly leaning in towards the blushing Agent. Teal eyes became half lidded and glanced down towards Tobias' slightly parted lips while his own softly whispered the confirmation they both wanted to hear; "Yes." 

Much to his surprise, the Octoling excitedly sat upright fully and quickly closed the distance between them... a little _too_ quickly as he wrapped his arms around the Inkling's neck. Connor's eyes opened wide and stared at Tobias, whose own eyes were squeezed ridiculously shut tight. His lips were pursed almost impossibly tight and were pressed rigidly against Connor's slightly parted stunned ones.

Connor remained still, silently analyzing the moment. Tobias' face was nearly a matching shade of pink as his hair, while his long pink tentacle was curled up in such a tight little coil that rest at the base of his hair line in the front. The sight was just too adorable.

All too suddenly, Tobias pulled himself away with an audible gasp, breaking the kiss and looking utterly horrified; "Oh my god, Connor! I-I'm so sorry! I-I don't know what came over m-!?" His apology was interrupted and muffled as Connor took the Octoling's face in both his hands and pulled him back towards him and into a much deeper, much more passionate kiss.

Tobias couldn't help himself as he moaned and relaxed into the touches almost immediately after his initial shock wore off, his eyes fluttering fully closed as his trembling hands reached up to grip Connor's.

At the Octoling's touches, Connor's own moved; his left hand sliding around to the others back and taking a fistful of the Zekko Hoodie's material while his right hand trailed up to rest at the base of Tobias' head, his fingers gently stroking the three little tentacles that were styled against the male's head.

Just as Tobias felt the other's hot tongue give a tentative swipe across his lower lip in a silent request to be granted permission to enter, the Octoling moved his hands to caress Connor's cheeks and jaw, whimpering cutely while parting his lips and granting the older Agent access.

Upon being granted entry, Connor wasted no time; moaning deeply while moving his arms to wrap them now possessively around the Octoling's arms and shoulders, his tongue dove into the hot wetness of Tobias' mouth. In the back of his mind, he noted that Tobias' frame appeared to be thinner than his own, almost reminding him of a female Inkling's body curves, however he could still feel the powerful yet lean muscles that lay hidden just beneath his lightly tanned flesh.

It wasn't long before the Inkling's yellow tongue was able to locate the pink one hiding within the wet cavern. The two muscles met together in a quick bump, startling both males before coming together once again only this time to join each other in a perfect dance. They slid and rolled and wrapped around one another, the difference in their primary colors causing a delightful tingle to fill their mouths.

The deeper the kiss became, the more Tobias filled with need. The need for contact? Attention? Sensation? It was everything and _more_ colliding together in a burning ball that began to find a focusing point between his hips. His hands fell from the Inkling's face to become trapped between their chests, the Octoling's sharper fingers pawing at the thin black tank top the other wore as they developed on their own a desperate desire to grasp at everything all at once.

The room began to heat up and spin slightly as they both became light headed, unfortunately resulting in Connor breaking off the steamy kiss and leaning back. A thin trail of saliva that had become a mixture of yellow and pink kept their lips connected for a second before breaking once Connor leaned too far back.

Resting his forehead against the other's, teal eyes stared down at Tobias' kiss-swollen lips as Connor took deep shaky breaths in an attempt to collect himself and calm down. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so quickly aroused by just a quick and sloppy make out session. But as he slightly shifted his weight and accidentally caused his right thigh to brush against his crotch, he bit back a moan when the light friction sent a tingling spark through out his body.

He assumed it could be caused by one of two reasons; Either it was because he's been single for so long that he's got a lot of pent up frustration. Or... Tobias just simply turns him on so easily. Feeling Tobias' fingers still lightly pawing at his tank top and hearing his deep breaths caused Connor's lips to curl slightly up as a wave of heat moved through him. Oh yeah, this little Octoling was _definitely_ the cause, and as he glanced down towards Tobias' lap once the younger male began squirming around a bit, Connor couldn't help but grin widely upon discovering that their little make out session just now apparently excited not only himself, but the Octoling still panting before him too.

Leaning back so that he could see Tobias' full face, Connor gently reached a hand to caress the other's cheek, gaining his attention as pink eyes suddenly fluttered open. "Connor... I'm sor-"

"Shh. Don't apologize for anything." the older male whispered softly as his hand continued to hold the other's cheek affectionately.

"So then... does this mean... w-we are...?" Tobias trailed off, his face nearly darker than the sweater he had stolen from the Inkling.

Connor, having a very strong idea he knew what the other was trying to ask, chuckled while moving his hand from his cheek to gently slide his palm along the entire length of the trembling pink tentacle that had still been tightly coiled atop the Octoling's head, his tender touches easily encouraging the shaking appendage to unravel and end up hanging loosely down the younger male's flushed face. With a wide smile, Connor finished the question for him, while also answering it with one of his own; "Dating? Yes. That is, of course, if _you_ want to date me? Because _I_ would love to date you, Tobias."

It took nearly five whole seconds for Connor's words to finally sink in because Tobias was so caught up in the bright smile on the Inkling's face. He's seen Connor smile before... but _this_ was a very special smile. One he was certain _no one_ else has seen. Once his brain actually processed what was said, Tobias' eyes widened as he began nodding his head eagerly. "Yes! Connor, I-I would love to... date you, too! It's what I've been trying to talk with you about all this time..." he then smiled shyly while looking away, "Again, I do apologize for the problems that my lack of experience for this sort of thing have caused."

Connor shook his head with a light chuckle, "Tobi. Again, you have nothing to apologize for. I'm..." he paused with a frown and sighed while leaning all the way back, his eyes averted to the side, "Like I said before... I'm sure by now you've found out I'm... not exactly the easiest squid to deal with. And for that, _I'm_ sorry. And that's why I ask again... just to know for certain, if _you're_ sure you want to try... being in a relationship with me?" Teal eyes sparkled with hope that the Octoling would not be changing his mind.

To Connor's shock, Tobias smiled the happiest and widest smile he's ever seen light up the Octoling's face; "Yes! I _want_ to date you, Connor! I _want_ to be in a relationship with you!"

Connor felt his hearts pounding against his chest as he leaned in and tenderly kissed Tobias' soft lips once again, keeping it short and sweet unlike the one before that left them both hot and bothered messes. Leaning back and breaking the contact, Connor took a deep breath before whispering softly, "Well, it's... getting late. We should get some rest. I had texted Marina that we needed to start working in the subway again while I was on my way home... and she agreed so we're all meeting up tomorrow morning at eight."

Tobias whined a little at the loss of contact, but nodded his head as he tried stifling a yawn. Climbing in the bed next to Connor, the Octoling smiled while his face flushed as the Inkling pulled him against his chest, moving him so he was partially lying on top of him while he had remained on his back.

Wrapping his arms around Tobias and holding him close, Connor placed a tender kiss to the relaxed tentacle before giving it an affectionate nuzzle. "Good-night, Tobias."

Already feeling his eyelids extremely heavy as she allowed his body to begin unwinding from all the stress and anxiety from the entire day, Tobias hummed while snuggling more into Connor's warmth; "G'-night, Connor..."

**~~~**

Valerie stood behind the train booth that Marina was currently sitting in, looking over her shoulder as the Octoling continued to quickly work on hacking different systems through out the Metro Station. Blinking with a soft curious hum, she lifted her gaze from Marina's laptop upon hearing the familiar footfalls of Connor and Tobias. A wide smile nearly split her face apart as she saw them approaching; Connor having a tender hold on Tobias' hand. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned against the train wall, "Well, well, well! So, does this mean Tobi talked to you?" she questioned the male Inkling.

"Yes." was all Connor responded with, moving to now wrap his arm around the Octoling's waist and pulling him closer against his hip protectively. Smiling up at the flushed male, Connor looked back over to the girls who were all staring with big grins; "Yes, he did and after talking about it, we're gonna try this thing out and see where it takes us."

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took OVER A MONTH! I've been busy with so much. And sadly, that business doesn't seem to be slowing down. I usually work on my story during downtime at work, but with us in the peek times of season, the ER is just too damn busy, even on my shift, which is overnight. 
> 
> I apologize for this and ask for everyone to be patient as the updates for this story and others will now be slow for the next few months.
> 
> Thank you and hopefully this long chappy makes up for it. YAY THEY'RE FINALLY DATING!


	11. Filling in The Blanks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor and Tobias have been dating for some time now, and during a quick conversation with Valerie, the young Octoling soon learns that he may not know as much about his Inkling friends as he thought. Especially about the Agent he's dating. Despite this, Tobias remains strong and by the sides of his friends, knowing he will one day know everything about Connor's past and be able to help him move past the hurt left behind.

It has already been three full weeks since Connor and Tobias had begun dating, and their friends could already see an amazing difference in each of them within just the first few days. It was mostly Connor that the other's have seen the biggest improvement in; He was happier, more vocal while making himself be more involved with the group even if it had nothing to do with their Agent work, and would participate in events willingly without any complaint. He would even crack jokes and tease the others from time to time. 

All around he just seemed less... grouchy as Valerie had put it.

He also seemed more calm and relaxed, not as high strung or serious as he was before. For example-whenever in a Turf War if a party broke out, instead of ignoring them completely he would actually shyly join. In the beginning, it was only if Tobias was present would he join. But now, even if it's a match that the Octoling was absent in, Connor would join albeit not as enthusiastically as he would in the Octoling's presence.

He also wasn't as guarded for certain things as before. He still kept his walls firmly in place and still just as high up, but over time his close friends were able to see even the smallest of cracks as the foundations were slowly weakening.

Of course, naturally the others began thinking that the two of them, being a couple and all, went the full length of their relationship and were able to _relax_ each other by relieving obvious pent up frustration, however unbeknownst to them the two actually have not gotten quite to that step in their relationship yet. They actually haven't gotten past heavy make out sessions.

And this was beginning to cause a mild sense of concern to bubble up within Tobias. There's been a few times that the Octoling has not only hinted at wanting to go further, but he has actually _tried_ to at least strip Connor down to where they could at least maybe work each other into shared orgasms.

Each attempt was always stopped by the Inkling himself. It was almost as if... he _didn't_ want to go that far.

So Tobias had texted Valerie to see if they could get together and chat. Connor was in a League match which at first saddened Tobias due to his rank not being high enough yet to be allowed to participate in League, but now found this was the perfect time to talk.

Valerie smiled as she watched Tobias nibbling on his Triple-Fried Galactic Shwaffle from Crusty Sean. The two of them had played a few Turf Wars together since Connor would most likely be busy for a while. After their last match which was surprisingly intense, they had become hungry so now they were just relaxing and waiting for the male Inkling to finish up.

"Man, I could never get tired of this food!" Tobias moaned after swallowing the mouthful he had.

Valerie chuckled, "Tell me about it! And to make things better, he serves special food and drinks during Splatfests that match the current theme!"

Tobias frowned sadly at the mentioning of the big event this city celebrates. He and Connor were to have their first Splatfest together, but Marie had been _positive_ about something that Marina had found. So naturally, Tobias became super excited and insisted he and Connor look into it.

It ended up being a ridiculously hard test that both males were each given five attempts before failing. Connor had lost three of his five attempts while Tobias had lost four. It also ended up taking hours to finally complete, so by the time they finally passed it and returned to the surface, they were both extremely exhausted and could barely walk.

Needless to say, Tobias missed his first Splatfest and that had left the younger male crestfallen.

Connor had worked hard to cheer the upset Octoling up, finally succeeding just before they had gone to bed. He smiled at the memory of the Inkling telling him that there would be plenty more Splatfests, nearly all of which would will most likely have a lame theme.

Valerie took a short sip of her drink, eyeing the Octoling intently. He had said he wanted to talk to her about something, but has yet to say anything. Despite this, there was something _she's_ been dying to know! So, setting her drink down, she leaned over the table and asked softly; "So... Tobi, you and Connor have been dating for like what... three weeks now, right?" Upon getting a wide smile and excited nod from the male since his mouth was once again full of food, she continued; "Have you two... ya'know...?" To emphasize her actual question, she touched the tips of her pointer digit and thumb together on her left hand to make a 'O' and took the index digit of her right hand and slid it in and out of the 'O' while bouncing her her eyebrows at him.

Tobias stared for a few long seconds, his head slightly tilted to the side cutely. Once what she was referring to actually sunk in however, his head snapped upright with his face turning red and eyes opening wide while painfully swallowing his partially chewed food. "W-what!? U-um... well...? Actually t-that's what I wanted to talk about. N-no, we haven't. N-not really. I mean, we've... made out several times... a-and it's nice. I've... _hinted_ at wanting to go, you know, _all the way_ , a-and he always seems to be interested and thinking the same thing... but then he'll just... stop when things start to get really good..."

With a pout of disappointment, Valerie sat back down fully in her chair. But then what Tobias had said made her hum with a finger to her chin in a thoughtful manner, "Hmm... sounds like he _may_ just be too nervous to make that sort of commitment just yet. Not sure how in depth Connor's talked to you about it yet, but a little bit ago he was hurt... pretty badly by his now ex. So _now_ because of her, he's all sorts of paranoid and cautious. He became very guarded. Just be patient with him, Tobi. It's nothing you did or anything so please do not think that. Connor's just... got some really thick walls he's put up around himself that _you_ need to continue working your magic on and weaken." she smiled fondly with a wink while taking another sip from her drink.

Tobias slowly lowered his food from his mouth, pink eyes open widely as he stared at her. An ex? Connor had... an ex? Then again, he really shouldn't be surprised that the Inkling has had previous relationships before. He then looked down at his meal, not really too hungry anymore as a flicker of sadness hit him. He thought he knew almost everything about Connor. Guess not... "I-? N-no, he hasn't said anything to me about having an... ex." He didn't mean to sound so upset, but he couldn't help the bitter feeling as it continued to spread slowly. Was Connor's jealousy rubbing off on him?

Valerie bit her lower lip as a slightly worried look came over her, "He... probably just doesn't want you to become concerned or anything by it. It's in the past and he's moved on more or less from it, just the hurt is still deep. But like I said-don't worry, I'm sure in time he'll tell you, but just know she's not a threat or anything like that if that's whats getting you upset. She's out of the picture completely. She moved away and it's been a few years since we've spoken to each other." She then wrinkled her nose slightly, whispering under her breath not realizing the Octoling was still able to hear her, "She'd honestly be a damned fool to come anywhere near him after what she did..."

Without using words, Tobias silently pleaded for more of an explanation, but the Inkling girl managed to hold her ground despite the Octoling's pout; "Give it time, Tobi. It's Connor's place to tell that story, and I'm certain he will share those pieces of his past with you. I only know because I was there for him through out it all." She smiled kindly at him, hoping this was enough to calm his curiosity.

This new piece of information had Tobias curious even more, however now for a completely different subject. It suddenly came to his attention that there really is a lot about his Inkling friends he doesn't know about yet; "Val, you said they broke up a few years ago. And that you've been with him through it all. If you don't mind me asking... just how long _have_ you known Connor? I always just thought you two first met after we reached the surface because you're the newest Agent?"

Green eyes blinked before sparkling as a wide smile came to her face, "Oh! Me and Connor? Pfft! We've certainly known each other longer than that! Let's see, we've known each other now for about... mmm..." she paused while she took a few seconds to think the dates over in her head before grinning, "Around five years now."

Tobias choked on his drink. "F-five years? "

Valerie frowned while asking if the Octoling was alright, continuing only after getting a nod and a choked yes. "Is... it that much of a surprise that we've known each other that long?" she chuckled.

"Well, to me y-yes. Only because I was under the impression that you two first met just recently. But then again... thinking back on it now, it makes so much sense and explains perfectly the behavior displayed between the two of you. The interactions between you and Connor were always those of a close friendship." He then smiled affectionately, "Whatever happened to Connor in the past must've been pretty hard on him if the two of you are as close to each other as you are."

She smiled, a hint of sadness being visible, "Yeah. It was... For both of us actually. We both got hurt, but it brought me and him closer. But enough about that... like I said, when the time comes, Connor will explain."

Tobias frowned slightly though he understood and would not push it, "So... are you able to tell me more about you and Connor at least? How did you two meet?"

Valerie seemed hesitant at first, but then chuckled and nodded her head. "A friend of mine had introduced me to Connor after he had protected us from some pervert in a private match."

"Wow, really? What happened?" he asked excitedly, all previous sadness forgotten.

"Well, I was bored one day and had gotten an invite to a private match by my friend Chloe. I followed her in and everyone more or less just dicked around. It was fun! People came and went. I had noticed that the host of the room seemed to have been keeping his distance from the group, sorta just observing, you know. I thought about swimming up to him during a particular match but got cornered by some guy that had joined. He had ended up being a friend of a friend. He was targeting all the girls and would ask very inappropriate questions. And if he didn't like the answer given to him, he splatted the girl and kept harassing them." she paused and took a drink.

"Well, once the guy found me and Chloe it got ugly. He seemed to have recognized her so apparently decided to target me in particular. I later came to find out it was because she was close friends with the host and that I guess the guy somehow knew that. During a match at Blackbelly Skate Park, the guy separated me from the other's and began trying to basically borderline molest me. Mind you, I've already blocked him, splatting him multiple times while warning him to just leave me alone and kept my distance but he just kept coming back. Chloe found us and began yelling at the guy. Just as he was about to splat us both, he was suddenly splatted."

"By who?" Tobias leaned over, pink eyes wide in growing interest.

Valerie grinned, "The host of the match; Connor. He had caught on quickly to the guy and what he had been doing to the girls and after actually catching him in the act, refused to let him leave the Spawn Point. At the end of the match, Connor promptly moved him to spectate and refused to take him off until the guy finally took the hint and left. It was great! At the end of the of the day, Chloe brought me over to the Inkling that had taken care of the creeper and introduced me to him. We've been friends since then."

"Oh wow! So then, where is Chloe? I haven't met her yet."

Valerie's smile appeared to have faltered for an instant but because of how fast it happened, Tobias just assumed it was a a shadow that that he simply saw things. She did appear more saddened however as she looked away, "Due to some bad family issues... she had to move out of the city and back home to the far country."

Dejected,he slouched slightly in his chair, his pink tentacle uncurling to hang limply down the side of his face. He was saddened he couldn't meet this other friend of theirs, and he hoped that what ever the family matters were that everything was alright.

Not really having anything else to talk about since Valerie refused to tell him anything about Connor's ex, Tobias' mind began drifting back to his current dilemma.

Valerie was quick to catch on to the other's change in mood and reached over to place a hand over Tobias', "You don't need to worry, Tobi. Connor is happy with you. Like, _genuinely_ happy with you. He just needs time. He's got a lot of hurt that's left a horrible scar."

Pink eyes suddenly opened wide, "S-scar? Val! Did Connor's ex...? Did _she_ cause that scar on his back??" Sudden blinding rage filled him at just the mere thought. Maybe it was a _good_ thing no one has told him anything about this girl.

Green eyes blinking in confusion, the Inkling girl cocked her head to the side, "Scar on his...? Oh-OH! Oh, shit, no-no-no! I meant _metaphorically_! That scar on Connor's back? He had gotten that on one of his later missions the first time Octavio stole the Great Zapfish. Apparently, he had just rescued a Mini Zapfish and was leaving when he was suddenly and rather aggressively attacked by an Octoling. Or, something like that." she then rolled her shoulder and popped a fry into her mouth.

"But, you said mission. So, as Agent Three... he was wearing his Agent gear. That's armor, right? What could have possibly gotten through it?"

"He actually didn't have the armor on. His Hero Jacket is thick... but it's not indestructible. And he wasn't too sure what the Octoling had used. He thinks it was a large knife or something. Strange thing is when he came back after the attack... while the wound was being cleaned and stitched, Callie and Marie removed a lot of little tiny glass shards."

Tobias suddenly couldn't breathe as his head began pounding, the earth beneath him tilting violently before beginning to feel as if it were spinning unevenly. "G-gl-glass...?"

Valerie hummed and looked up at the Octoling, suddenly becoming alarmed. "Tobi? Whoa, hey man are you alright? Dude, you just got like _super_ pale all of a sudden."

As quickly as the dizziness and nausea had come, it left him, leaving behind an annoying headache. "S-sorry... I, don't know what happened. I just got really dizzy all of a sudden. I'm alright, Val. Sorry to have worried you." he smiled weakly.

She watched him for a moment more, not truly believing him but at the same time felt she shouldn't push. "If you say so. Tobias... if this is still about Connor being... well, _Connor_ , please believe me when I say there's nothing you need to worry about. Everything will work out. I honestly believe you're the best thing that has ever happened to Connor. He _needs_ you. More than I think he realizes."

Glancing up, Tobias smiled shyly as his face heated up, "Really? You really think so?"

"I know so, Tobi!" 

"Yo! What're you two doing here?"

Valerie and Tobias turned to face where the familiar voice had called out to them from, Valerie smiling while Tobias began feeling lightheaded as his heart began pounding again, though this time for a different reason. Walking up to them with a tired smile was Connor.

After catching up with each other, Valerie excused herself and went towards her home while Connor and Tobias went to theirs; the entire walk back Tobias excitedly asking Connor how his team did in the League matches.

**~~~**

Another week past with little progress on finding a possible cure for those still Sanitized beneath the surface. Despite this, the team refused to give up or even back down. Which is how Agent Three and Agent Eight found themselves near the end of a difficult test.

Keeping their guards up while slowly approaching what at first looked like a dead end, however upon actually reaching the wall, they saw a hole with an arrow pointing to it. 

Agent Eight took his Octoshot and walked up to it with caution, leaning over to peer inside. It was either very long or blocked off as it was pitch black. "What do you think, Three?" the Octoling whispered.

Looking around the area, the Inkling hummed as he found what looked like several sets of clip-on flashlights: some to attach to weapons and some to clip onto clothes. "Guess we continue forward." he answered while taking a weapon flashlight and clipped it onto his Hero Shot after making sure the light worked. He then held one out to Agent Eight who smiled and thanked him while taking it. After getting their weapons ready, they each helped make sure the flashlights attached to the front of their shirts worked perfectly.

Agent Eight stared at the small opening in the wall, humming in thought as he crouched over. "It's gonna be a pretty tight fit... Three, I'll go first, I'm slightly smaller than you. You follow behind me, alright?" he smiled. Despite being taller than the Inkling by about two inches, he was more lean than the other. Not to say he lacked any strength because of this fact, he was just as strong if not even stronger than Agent Three.

Taking in a deep breath, Agent Three nodded with a smile of his own. "Let's do this!"

Watching as Agent Eight carefully entered, Agent Three instantly realized the mistake of having the Octoling going first. Upon entering himself, he only confirmed his fears.

The size of the tunnel was pretty cramped, so they weren't offered much space. Literally just enough to crawl on their hands and knees, causing them to disarm themselves as they attached their weapons to their ink tanks to free up both hands. Agent Three also made sure to take his time and be mindful since his shorts did not go past his knees and were exposed to the cold hard floor. He also made sure to have his tentacles droop as they started scrapping against the top of the tunnel.

"This is miserable." the Inkling sighed under his breath as he felt his knees already aching.

"Tell me about it. But hey, I'll take crawling through a dark tunnel over getting shot at from every angle any day." Agent Eight chuckled.

"Now if only we knew where this tunnel was going. I'd hate for it to drop us into something unpleasant." The lights from the flashlights helped lead the way, and the blue glow from Agent Three's Hero Runners and Headset help give a calming feeling around them. The test chamber was set to blue ink, so they both matched.

"Aw, don't be so negative, Connor..." Agent Eight whispered his partner's name as he continued to crawl and chuckle.

"Watch it, you." Three warned with a grin as he looked forward. He had been busying himself with looking around the walls for any possible levers or switches that could help them. Once he focused his gaze forward however he paused and swallowed. Hard.

The beam of his flashlight was directed almost too perfectly on the round ass of his partner, and with the way Agent Eight was crawling, it was unintentionally causing his backside to sway from side to side in such a lovely and enticing way it was causing Agent Three's body to heat up in his Hero Gear.

"Oh shit..." he shuddered as hot arousal began to slowly pool in his crotch, causing him to take his bottom lip between his teeth in an attempt to keep the small whimper that was threatening to fall from his lips from escaping. He also became unaware of his surroundings and hadn't realized he had slowed in his crawling speed greatly.

Sensing Agent Three's sudden hesitance, Eight slowed down himself and attempted to peer over his shoulder at his partner, "Three? Are you alright back there? Do we need to take a break?"

Three cleared his throat and forced his gaze down, "Y-yeah, I'm alright. J-just keep going, Eight. Can you see the end of this damn tunnel yet? I feel like I'm about to suffocate."

Agent Eight tilted his head cutely in concern. He doesn't remember ever hearing the Inkling complain of confined places before so he was pretty sure he wasn't claustrophobic. He then looked forward and squinted his eyes, soon letting out a triumphant laugh as he saw a shimmer of light; "Yes! I believe I can see the end!"

"Oh thank cod..." Agent Three sighed to himself as he struggled to keep his eyes glued to the floor and not the perfect little ass of his boyfriend.

The continued crawling through the small tunnel, and before long both came out through the other side. Luckily, the end of the test was directly outside the tunnel, and upon completion Agent Three being the one to hastily grab the prize and jump back to the train, causing Agent Eight to be both curious with his sudden strange behavior as well as concerned.

Upon both of their arrivals on the train, Marina took note of how flustered Agent Three appeared and just assumed it had been because the last test had been annoying to the boys before the long crawl through the dark tunnel.

"Why don't we call it a night for now? You both look tired. You two should go get some much needed rest." she smiled sweetly at them from over the top of her laptop.

Agent Eight nodded with a grateful smile, "That sounds like a good idea."

"Y-yeah." Agent Three sighed while taking a seat on a bench, his body appearing tense as he moved to carefully cross one leg over the other, minding himself in the process. With arms crossed over his chest, teal orbs disappeared as eyes gently closed.

This was going to be a long train ride home.

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update~ they will most likely continue being slow now just because I guess I'm falling into a shitty writer's block.


	12. Attempt to Commit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a rough test leaves Connor a bit 'frustrated', the situation continues to escalate within the confines of their home. As the moment heats up, the two Agents feel as if tonight is the night to take their relationship to ultimate level. When nerves threaten to get in the way, their relationship continues to be put through the test as Connor's past slowly tries to come back to haunt him.

_*A/N: This entire chapter is an RP between me and LaPetiteMort. I play Connor and she plays Tobias*_

Safely returning home to their apartment, Connor released a long and exhausted sigh as he carefully slipped off his Hero Runners while at the same time unhooking the worn cape he's grown so fond of. The last test wasn't bad per say... just tiring as it required a lot of timing. But they had passed! Stretching to release the tension from his sore muscles, teal eyes soon glanced over towards his partner.

They've been dating for a little while now. Long enough that they _should_ be able to go further into their relationship, but at the same time he didn't want to rush things. Tobias was special and meant a lot to him. But lately, the Inkling's been having more and more thoughts about it and has been finding it harder and harder to maintain his resolve and keep his hormones in check. Especially as the more the Octoling hangs out with Valerie, the more teasing traits he picks up.

Closing the door behind him after following his partner in, Tobias leaned against it and released a sigh as long and as exhausted as Connor's. Watching as he stretched, Tobias couldn't help but admire the tease of tanned flesh that peaked from under the Hero Jacket. Unconsciously licking his lips he felt his stomach flutter at the thought of skin to skin contact in a most intimate position... Realizing he had been staring, he hastily put away his Octoshot and bent over to begin unzipping his boots, his hearts starting to pound as he barely missed direct eye contact with his partner. During a couple of their rather intense make out sessions, the Octoling has been desiring more of the Inkling, wanting to go further, but it never did. _'Maybe Connor just wants to take it slow? Am I just too eager?'_ His thoughts slowed as he began fighting with a zipper that wouldn't budge, unintentionally wiggling his bottom.

Taking the cape and hanging it on a hook on the inside of the closet door to have it out of the way for the time being, Connor moved on to his jacket next. Hands to the zipper of his Hero Jacket, he had it pulled about halfway down before they suddenly froze. Eyes that at first meant to only glance at the younger male beside him now openly stared, wide and with growing hunger at the enticing sight of his partner's nice ass wiggling so damn invitingly as the Octoling continued to struggle with the zipper of his boot, which appeared to have gotten stuck.

His hearts began racing as the simmering warmth of arousal steadily started rising to a boiling heat, his shorts already beginning to feel slightly more tighter as the temperature from their AC did nothing to cool his hot flesh. _'Shit. I-I can't anymore!'_ he sighed mentally to himself as his tongue slipped between parted lips to moisten them as they had dried out. With a clumsy haste to his movements, Connor got his Hero Jacket the rest of the way unzipped and pushed open before moving to be directly behind the unsuspecting Octoling.

_'Ugh, stupid zipper.'_ the Octoling thought as he continued fighting. The more he struggled, the more he was unintentionally wiggling his rear. After what felt like forever, he finally got the zipper free and down. "A--aha??" His victory cry cut short as he stood up and backed into Connor's frame. He froze as he felt the heated skin of the Inkling still hidden beneath his fitted undershirt against the exposed part of his back, biting back a moan at the unexpected, yet welcomed contact. Relaxing a bit, he peered over his shoulder, lowering his voice an octave; "Connor?"

Though the vest part of his upper gear was open, the fitted long sleeved shirt beneath it was still keeping heat trapped, soon causing Connor's head to start spinning. That concern became forgotten however the instant Tobias had stood up and bumped into him. With a low grunt at the contact, Connor sighed while gently turning the Octoling around so that he faced him before lifting his right hand to caress the taller male's cheek as his left found a comfortable place at the other Agent's hip, fingertips teasing the exposed skin with feather light touches; "You know... you've been teasing me all day, Tobi. First during that last test, and now while fighting with your boot." he spoke in a low, husky tone, teal eyes lidded and glancing at those perfect lips.

His shorts were becoming uncomfortably tight now and at this rate he was _certain_ the Octoling would be able to feel his evident excitement pressing into him if he hasn't already seen it.

Wrapping his arms around Connor's neck, Tobias leaned into the touches, nuzzling his hand. Tobias shivered at the delicate touches across his hip, stomach flip flopping as the familiar heat spread through his body, pooling between his legs. His breath hitched at Connor's seductive tone, further adding to his own arousal. Feeling a little bold, Tobias pulled Connor closer, gasping softly as his erection brushed up against Connor's apparent one. Leaning down to rest his forehead against the Inkling's, licking his lips and staring into his partner's half lidded eyes; "Oh? And how exactly have I been teasing you?" he managed in a low seductive tone that even surprised him.

An almost violent shudder passed through him at the feel of Tobias' excitement against his own. He wants this to continue, to go on even further. He was far too turned on to be able to simply kiss his partner and call it a night. And by the feel of it, so too was Tobias. "When we had to go through that crawl space. You were very adamant on going first. Now I know why;" he paused as he moved the hand from Tobias' hip around to his backside, giving a firm grope to the Octoling's rear through his tight black pants. "You wanted to tease me with this perfect little ass of yours being in my face the entire time we moved through that damn tunnel. And then now, when you were bent over to unzip your boot." The hand to Tobias' cheek slid around to cup the back of his neck, ever so gently pulling him in closer.

"I want to kiss you, Tobi." he breathed against the other's lips.

Startling slightly at the grab on his ass, Tobias was taken aback slightly at the assault and Connor's language. A small thrill surging through his body at this possessive side of his partner. He's hardly ever heard Connor swear! Being dragged from his thoughts as he felt a hand on the back of his neck, Tobias shuddered pleasantly at Connor's words. 

Granting the Inkling's request as well as his own, Tobias barely nodded before he closed the distance between them, pulling Connor flush against him and slightly grinding his erection against Connor's, moaning softly into the kiss.

Connor's resolve shattered. Moaning deep in the back of his throat, the Inkling pushed Tobias back first into the wall, using his own body to pin the younger male against the cool surface. Rolling his hips with a slight urgency, Connor gasped into the kiss as a jolt of hot arousal flooded his nerves as their erections rubbed deliciously together. His hands moved to the front of the Octolong's black shirt, grasping the zipper and pulling it down to expose the smooth lightly tanned flesh beneath.

Just as his palms fell flat against the other's taught skin, Connor slid his right leg between Tobias' legs and lifted it up, having his upper thigh grinding and rubbing against the other's hard on perfectly; all with out breaking the kiss.

Wanting even more as his fingers teased Tobias' nipples into an erect state much like his cock, Connor swiped his tongue across the soft pair of lips against his own, silently pleading for entry.

Moaning, practically whimpering at all the new touches and sensations overflowing his system, Tobias started shyly rutting against the offending leg, erections rubbing against one another. Granting access to his partner's silent request, Tobias slightly parted his lips. Over the past few weeks, with Connor's eager assistance, he feels more confident in his kissing abilities. Hands moving to paw and fist at the offending shirt, Tobias eagerly kissed back.

With a gleeful whine at being allowed entry, Connor excitedly drove his tongue into his partner's hot wet mouth. With the kiss growing more passionate, the tightness in his shorts was becoming painful. He could only imagine the Octoling's discomfort considering his were already more constricting.

Grinning against the other's lips at how much more confidence he displayed with his kissing, Connor moved his hands to unzip his undershirt as his partner continued to paw at it.

Pushing both the long sleeved shirt and vest open, he quickly pulled Tobias flush against himself while driving his hips forward; bare chests pressed hotly together while restrained erections roughly rutted against one another.

Overwhelmed with all the new sensations flooding his system, Tobias broke the kiss; a thin string of saliva keeping them connected, hissing softly as his painfully hard cock rutted against Connor's own swollen length. Breathless and flushed he gazed into lust filled teal eyes, his own pink orbs half lidded with the same desires. Running his hands across Connor's now bare chest, voice low and husky, "C-Connor, I-"

The lust filled gaze of the Octoling he still held pinned between the wall and himself fully broke the Inkling's willpower. "Fuck, Tobi... how is it you're able to do this to me?" he breathed, moving to almost expertly pull off the other's shirt. 

Not waiting for a response, the tone of voice just his name alone was spoken in had Connor scooping the Octoling up bridal style and carrying him towards their bed room. Not bothering to shut the door, Connor sat Tobias down on the soft mattress with great care before tearing off his Hero Jacket and undershirt, tossing the clothing to the side before carefully removing his Hero Headset and setting the powered-off equipment on the nightstand. With a hungry grin, he then crawled on top the mattress and over Tobias; "Don't worry, Tobi... I'll take very good care of you." he whispers in a deep husky voice that he himself didn't know he was capable of. Tobias was saying something... and Connor felt like he had a pretty good idea he knew what he wanted. 

So here they were.

Connor leaned down after gently encouraging Tobias to lie down on his back, his fingers pinching the Octoling's left nipple while his mouth had the right nub captured and being pleasantly tortured but his tongue.

Shuddering at Connor's words, Tobias didn't protest as he was literally swooped of his feet. Snaking his arms to wrap around Connor's neck again holding him close, inhaling the intoxicating scent of the Inkling. Kicking his boots off en route to their shared bedroom, he could feel his hearts pound in his ears in anticipation. After being gingerly set down, he watched Connor strip the remainder of his Hero gear before the Inkling climbed over him coaxing him on his back to which he obliged, stomach doing somersaults at Connor's tone of voice. Tobias only managed a shaky breathe before feeling the Inkling begin the assault on his already oversensitive body.

"Ah-ahh Connor." he softly moaned, arching into the touches.

He couldn't explain the intensity of emotions that were crashing around inside him as he moved to switch sides and orally molest the other nipple. Upon feeling something firmly poking into his lower abdomen as he had settled down between Tobias' spread legs, a grin came to his face as he pushed himself up and sat back. The bulge in those tight blank pants looked so incredibly painful, it was making his own ache. Hands that were beginning to minutely tremble from his own anticipation unfastened the front of the Octoling's pants before slowly peeling the material down those lithe legs, his breathing becoming quicker as more and more of his partner's delicious flesh was exposed until the male was left in nothing but the black spanky shorts that always left Connor hot and bothered upon seeing.

Head swimming with various emotions, Tobias managed to subconsciously lift his hips to aid Connor, sighing with minute relief as some of the pressure on his aching cock was alleviated. Seeing the hungry lust-filled look in Connor's eyes sent a further jolt of arousal through his being as well as feeling... vulnerable? He had no problem stripping down to his spanky shorts in front of the Inkling before, but this felt different; intimate.

Sitting back on his heels to take in the site of the flustered Octoling lying nearly one hundred percent bare before him had his cock aching painfully within the confines of his shorts. Keeping teal locked with pink and with a long heavy sigh, Connor slowly stood up on his knees as he pulled his shorts down. Once pooled near the mattress, the Inkling moved to stand up beside the bed. Never once breaking the intense eye contact he maintained, he too was now left in just his black boxer-briefs.

The lump trapped within the briefs appeared even thicker now that the restrictions of the shorts were gone. Climbing back on the bed, Connor crawled over Tobias and settled down between his legs once more only higher this time. Capturing the Octoling's lips in a hot kiss, Connor moaned while rocking his hips against his partner's, their nearly freed erections rolling together perfectly and weeping for more attention.

Tobias moaned lewdly into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Connor to hold him close, hips instinctively rolling with his to meet in sync. Feeling himself getting close to the brink, Tobias whimpered in his moan and gave a quick, almost desperate thrust.

Swallowing the sounds of his partner's pleasure, Connor gasped at the motion from the male beneath him. It startled him but also made him realize they were both still suffering. Breaking the kiss, he slid his tongue along the others kiss-swollen lips before sitting back. With a sound close to a whimper leaving him, Connor slipped his fingers under the waistband of the Octoling's spanky shorts, slowly sliding them over thin hips and down lean legs. His eyes locked onto the weeping length of the Octoling, his tongue subconsciously licking his lips as his cock _throbbed_. 

With a sudden haste, he sat up on his knees, once again locking gazes with Tobias, and pushed his boxer-briefs down to his knees. His swollen cock sprang up, the tip having precum beading at the slit.

Connor has unintentionally seen the others cock before... back when he first moved in and would strip right before him. Of course, those time it had been flaccid. But the Octoling has _yet_ to see his cock. He waited to gauge on the younger male's reaction now that his fully engorged length was exposed before him at last.

Tobias breathed a full sigh of relief as his cock was freed from its confines, resting heavy against his lower abdomen, precum dripping onto his stomach. Tobias watched through a lust filled haze as Connor pushed his shorts down. Breaking the eye contact and pushing himself up on his elbows, Tobias' eyes trailed down Connor's toned chest and abs. Eyes widening as they rested on the engorged cock that stood proudly before him, Tobias swallowed thickly, not exactly prepared for Connor's impressive size. He also mentally noted that Inkling anatomy was exactly the same as Octoling. Pushing himself into a sitting position, Tobias reached out with trembling hands to finish pulling down Connor's boxer briefs, leaving the older male completely exposed.

Shuddering as the Octoling helped him out of his briefs, Connor kicked the offending material off to join the rest of the clothes. Now, they were both fully exposed to one another for the first time.

Connor felt his insides flipping around with growing anticipation as his body realized what was happening. Connor wasn't a virgin, he's had one other sexual partner and even then it was only twice. But despite that and the fact it's been over two years, his body hasn't forgotten the shrill excitement of potential intercourse.

With a quiet breath, Connor let out a rather shaky chuckle as he moved to crawl over Tobias, half lidded teal gaze glancing down to watch as his heavy length came into contact with the swollen cock of the Octoling. The feeling from the touch was so hot and electrifying it pulled a shuddering gasp from the Inkling as he collapsed lightly against Tobias. "Fuck, Tobi... s-sorry! I-I didn't mean to fall. Are you alright?" he gasped while pushing himself up on his hands.

Tobias startled at the hot contact of their cocks, the euphoric feel coursing through his being, oofing lightly when Connor's chest gently collided with his own. Looking up onto Connor's lust-filled eyes now hinted with concern. "I'm-I'm okay Connor." he smiled timidly while running his hands up lightly toned arms. Tobias swore his hearts were going to beat out of his chest from his nerves. He trusted Connor, he wanted Connor, he _craved_ Connor; all this was new and Connor was going to be his first. Tobias took a deep breath in a poor attempt to calm himself and his racing thoughts.

Sighing quietly to himself in relief upon the Octoling stating he was alright, Connor placed a hand to the younger male's cheek and caressed it tenderly. What was so special about this Octoling that had Connor wrapped so tightly around his finger? The amount of panic that was filling him when he thought he had hurt him just by falling on him was nearly mind numbing. _'I've never felt this way before... Not even with HER...'_

Shaking his head from such irrelevant thoughts, Connor smiled while leaning over to place a sweet kiss to the corner of Tobias' mouth. He's been in a few relationships before this one, none of which EVER brought out this gentle side of the male Inkling before. It was almost scaring Connor... he wasn't aware of this tender side of himself but he was beginning to... dare he say, enjoy it. Even if he wasn't recognizing himself.

Beginning to feel lightheaded from the whirlwind of emotions, Connor proceeded to take things to the next step; leaning his head down to trail butterfly kisses along the Octoling's jawline up towards his left ear, Connor's left hand slipped between their bodies and took a tender hold of the other's throbbing cock the same instant his teeth took his ear captive with a gentle nibble.

Tobias rather enjoyed the extra attention from Connor. It was surprising how gentle he was being and Tobias realized he really loved being doted on. The gentle touches and caresses driving him further mad.

"Mmm, I-Ngh CONNOR!" Moaned turned soft shout as his cock was fondled and ear nibbled. Two different sensations making his cock throb painfully, hands clinging to the Inklings arms , finger tips digging gently into the heated flesh underneath them.

"I, I- Con-Connor...please!" Tobias moaned practically begged, thrusting into Connor's hand for emphasis. Please what exactly, Tobias wasn't sure. He had a feeling. Would it at last go that far? Would he be good at it? Would Connor enjoy it? Thoughts racing through his overstimulated mind, he moaned and thrust up again into the hot hand.

Surprised when he felt the other thrusting into his hand, Connor grinned around the still captured lobe before giving it a little love bite. Hearing the pleased tone in the Octoling's lovely voice had Connor rolling his hips against his own hand that continued to fist the other's hard length. "Shhh. I've got you. And I will take perfect care of you now." he breathed into his ear.

Moving to kiss his lips once again, Connor then sat up and reached for something that was in the drawer of the nightstand. Taking a small bottle of lube and a small foil wrapper out, Connor put some of the odorless jell on his right hand and began to nuzzle his nose against Tobias' cheek. He thought he knew what the Octoling was asking for as he slid his hand downwards past his cock and towards the most intimate part of the Octoling's body, slickened fingers just grazing the tight ring of muscle.

Tobias pressed into the kiss, Connor's soft words warming his heart and cock. Tobias whined at the loss of contact, fidgeting uncomfortably as Connor left him briefly, watching the older male reach into the nightstand. Tobias felt his heart in his throat when he saw the items in Connor's hand. Panic rising to the surface of the realization of what was about to happen as Connor poured some of the jell on his hand and started towards his rear, the nuzzling on his cheek doing nothing to distract him from his nerves.

Nerves and body beyond hyper sensitive, Tobias took a deep breath willing himself to relax. As soon as he felt a slick finger gently massage the tight ring of muscle however, he lost his resolve. Squirming and tensing, he spoke up in a hesitant, shaky voice; "Connor, w-wait! I don't know what I'm doing! I... I h-haven't done t-this before."

Connor froze. Teal eyes opening wide but staring at the wall. Did... did he hear him correctly just now? His hand instantly pulled away from Tobias' tight backside as Connor pushed himself up with alarming speed. Staring down wide eyed at the Octoling, Connor felt a new wave of different emotions swirling around inside him. "You... you're a virgin?!? I-I thought you said you've done this before!!"

Tobias felt a little hurt with how quickly Connor sat up. Nausea rising in his throat, feeling like he just messed everything up. Pushing himself into a sitting position next to the kneeling Inkling, "I never said that I did!"

He couldn't explain the feeling of... panic rising within him. _'Virgin... he's a... **fuck**! He's a **virgin**!'_ he mentally began having a total break down. "Well, you never said you didn't! So I just assumed...!" He then paused. Fuck, he was an idiot... what right did he have to assume such a thing??

"Shit " he cursed under his breath while moving to place his feet on the floor and bury his face in his hands. _'He's a virgin... he's clean and pure where as I'm-? Because of her! **Shit!** '_ He rubbed his face roughly before gripping his knees tightly.

Tobias watched Connor's face cycle through various emotions of distress. He felt his throat tighten, breath quicken and chest ache. Was this really something terrible? Did he not want someone who was inexperienced? Thoughts racing as fast as his partner's, he began feeling a bit lightheaded. Tobias scooted closer to the distressed Inkling, placing his hand on top of Connor's.

"Connor... I'm... I'm sorry?" his voice soft, any hint of arousal dissolved.

Startling from his thoughts at the tender touch to his hand, eyes still wide looked down to see the lighter toned hand of his partner placed a top his darker one, the difference in their skin tones mixing nicely. Forcing his mind to just stop and calm down upon hearing the apology in such a tone that pulled at his hearts, Connor released a shaky sigh and ran his free hand over his yellow tentacles that were still pulled up in a ponytail; "Tobi, I-? It...? Look, it's fine, alright? You... you don't have anything to apologize for. I was wrong for assuming you've... done this before." His body began to tremble, only adding to his mounting anxiety as he tried to control himself. "I'm sorry for assuming. A-and I'm sorry for... _pushing_."

Nausea suddenly rose within him at that last thought. "Sonnavabitch... it's just like back then when she- Goddammit..."

Tobias' ears perked up, ready to learn more about the older male's past. When it became apparent he was done talking for the moment, Tobias moved to sit beside Connor rather than behind him. Placing his hand back on top of Connor's, he rested his head against the trembling shoulder, "Connor... you didn't push. I want this just as much as you do. I was just... overwhelmed at all these new sensations." Tobias still spoke softly, carefully choosing his words. Rubbing small circles on the back of Connor's hand to help soothe him.

Feeling the touches to his hand yet again helped calm the Inkling's racing mind. The soothing circular motions further aiding with the easing his anxiety. Despite this... set back, his cock was still throbbing for the attention it was craving but was denied. "We'll... take it slowly. It's a big step. I'll be... right back. I'm, um, gonna go take a real quick shower. You... okay?" he glanced over at the Octoling sitting beside him.

Tobias nodded, still leaning against his partner's shoulder. Shifting to allow Connor to get up reminded him that his shaft was still semi erect, though all the thrilling sensations from earlier had since dissipated.

"I'll be okay. We'll go to bed as soon as you get out." Tobias looked up at Connor and gave a small smile.

The tone of voice he spoke in and the look on the Octoling's face all pulled strongly at Connor's hearts, causing his chest to ache. With a quick nod himself, he pushed himself to his feet and hastily moved towards the bathroom without looking back.

Once inside and the door gently closed, Connor sighed as he felt his eyes burn, 'This changes things... dammit. He's a virgin. He's pure, and because of **her** I'm filthy.' Sighing in frustration, he was already in the shower with the water raining down on him. Subconsciously his hand was to his hard on, working fast and sloppy to get rid of the arousal in a most unsatisfying orgasm. All together he wasn't in there not 10 minutes before already out and heading back towards their shared room.

_'Before we go through with this all the way... I need to know if Tobias is one hundred percent sure he wants me to be his first...'_

Tobias watched as Connor quickly made his way towards the bathroom... not moving until he heard the sound of the running water. Sighing heavily, Tobias ran his hands down his face before burying his head in them, mind unable to process any of what just happened. Staring at his nearly limp cock, he _tched_ and pushed himself up. He surveyed the room, discarded clothing littered the floor, he sighed dejectedly and picked each article up placing them in the hamper.

Deciding a shower wasn't worth the effort, he retrieved a clean pair of undershorts along with his favorite button shirt, hesitating if he should grab a pair of sweat pants.

Connor had stopped by the laundry room and grabbed a clean pair of boxer briefs as well as sleep shorts, pulling each item on. Entering the room with the towel now draped over his bare shoulders, Connor took notice of the clothing from earlier being picked up. With a forced smile, he chucked; "You uh... didn't have to pick everything up... but thank you." He then sat the towel down after making sure his tentacles were dry, deciding to leave them hanging down loosely.

Stretching with a tried groan, the Inkling sat down on the bed, taking notice of Tobias' arousal no longer being present.

"It wasn't a problem."

Noticing Connor in his usual sleep attire, he forwent the sweats and climbed into bed laying behind Connor.

Feeling the weight of the Octoling behind him, Connor pushed all of his inner conflicts on the situation behind him and carefully rolled over, draping his right arm over Tobias and spooning him. Connor didn't want the other feeling he had done something wrong. 'It's not you, Tobi... it's... it's me. Everything is me.' he apologized mentally.

Now if only he could verbally speak it.

Settling down in the arms of his boyfriend, Tobias placed his arm over Connor's, interlacing their fingers together and putting his other arm on the pillow to support his head. Staring at the wall in front of him, mind flooded with thoughts, yet empty at the same time. He hoped he hadn't ruined things again with his hesitation. He wanted to say something, but no idea what. Subconsciously he started rubbing circles on Connor's thumb in a poor attempt to soothe himself.

Mind and body strangely calming at the soothing circles on his thumb, Connor breathed Tobias' scent in deeply, feeling even more at ease. He pulled the Octoling closer to him, silently letting him know that everything would be okay.

That _they_ would be okay.

To further ensure this, Connor gingerly-making extra sure no boundaries were crossed-took Tobias and pulled over himself as he rolled onto his back, bringing the Octoling to partially lie on top of him with his head tucked beneath the Inkling's chin. Arms wrapped protectively around the younger male, Connor rubbed soothing circles on his back through the white button up shirt.

Wrapping his arm around Connors chest, Tobias began feeling at ease with the Inklings silent reassurance. Relaxing into the older male's touches, Tobias was still in awe at how Connor doted on him, treating him as if he were the most valuable possession in the world. The Octoling felt his cheeks heat up thinking about Connor's soft side that only he can see. _'Things will be okay.'_

Nuzzling into Connor's neck and chin, being mindful of his tentacle, Tobias could feel the weight of sleep come crashing on him as the events of the day and evening took their toll.

Hesitating before placing a quick kiss on Connor's throat, "Good night, Connor."

Unable to resist the pull at his lips as they curled into a small smile, Connor held the Octoling securely against him and returned the affectionate nuzzling. The small kiss he received only adding more strength to his smile, he tilted his head to allow him to place a tender kiss to the Octoling's pink tentacle, minding the sensitive suction cup that rest near his face. "Good night, Tobias."

Though Tobias being a virgin does change things heavily now, Connor felt enough happened tonight between them that maybe... he could still be the Octoling's first. Time was needed now, as well as an explanation for his reactions. Tomorrow is another day, and he was sure the younger male would be eager to try and fix things.

What Tobias didn't know yet, was that all the problems resided inside Connor's head... his feelings for the Inkling were about to be put through a rough test as he will soon learn more about the older male's past and just how emotionally and mentally fucked up it truly left Connor.

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More and more of Connor's past is starting to come out into the light. Connor was left pretty mentally and emotionally screwed up, and Tobias is slowly gonna help him heal. <3
> 
> We've also decided that most of the 'intimate' scenes between Connor and Tobias we're going to try and RP.


	13. Getting Over The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor is at last ready to admit his mind is messed up and needs help fully moving on from the hurt of his past. Valerie tells him what he needs to do, and now Connor just needs the guts to do it. After Tobias finally confronts him about his ex, Connor unwillingly finds himself in the perfect opportunity to include the Octoling in his past and share with him the hurt that has started putting so much frustration on their relationship.

A week has passed since the night Connor and Tobias had first attempted to have sex. Things weren't too terribly awkward between them, however each time Tobias tried talking to Connor about it, the Inkling would close in on himself, leaving the younger male to begin believing that, despite what all Valerie had said before, he really messed things up this time.

Connor knew what the problem was, and it had nothing to do with the Octoling. He just was having a difficult time trying to talk to the other about everything. He needed help. So, having sent a text to Valerie, Connor now found himself in a locked Private Match with the female Inkling.

"Alright, Connor. Talk to me. What is the matter? You and Tobias both have been like, super mopey for a few days now. What did you do?" Valerie pushed. She hated doing such a thing but sometimes for Connor, he needed a good hard shove.

Connor, at first a little miffed that she so easily blamed him, sighed while digging the heels of his palms almost painfully into his tightly squeezed eyes, "Valerie. Last week, Tobias and I tried... to have sex."

Refraining from expressing pure excitement at hearing the news, she frowned once it actually sunk in what he had said. "Wait. What do you mean you guys _tried_? What happened?"

Connor released a long shaky sigh, his hands sliding over his teal tentacles... "Val... he's a virgin."

Valerie's eyes opened a little wider in surprise, instantly now knowing what the newest problem was. She hummed softly and backed down completely from any further attempts to interrogate him. "I... see. Connor... I _know_ you will not like hearing this but... you _can't_ keep being so hard on yourself about this. What you and Tobias have is too special for either of you to lose. He's amazing for you and you're amazing for him. You _need_ to talk to him about this and explain to him exactly what the issue is because if you don't I can guarantee you he will most likely end up thinking it's something he did."

Connor sighed, "I... I know, Val. But what if... what if it changes how he sees me?"

"Connor, honestly the only one who sees you differently because of it, is _you_." she smiled, her short pink tentacles bouncing slightly as she shifted her weight from side to side.

"You're... you're right. I'll try talking to him tonight about it. Thanks. Sorry I keep dragging you into my crap." he forced a weak smile.

"Hey, it's what friends are for. Now come on. We gonna play or what?" she yelled while lifting her charger up and taking aim.

Connor at last genuinely laughed while dodging her shot and jumped over the ledge to the lower level, swimming away to a safe place before taking aim himself.

**~~~**

Tobias frowned while reading the text on his phone. He was hoping to play Turf with Valerie but she was busy in a Private Battle with 'friends'. Since she was busy and Connor was missing, he assumed they were talking.

Blinking upon hearing the ding from the elevator alerting him that it had arrived at his level, he took a deep breath in when the door opened and stepped inside. He was surprised to see the ground floor was already pressed, and it was only then that he noticed he wasn't alone.

Standing over in a corner playing on their squidphone was a young male Inkling. He was tapping his foot to a beat only he could hear coming from the Marinated Headphones he wore, the Garden Gear he was wearing showing off his lightly muscled arms. Long black tights covered the entire length of his legs save his ankles, which only a small section of flesh peek through between the leggings and the Truffle Canvas Hi-Tops. His skin tone had Tobias mainly captivated because it was the exact same as Connor.

If it weren't for the green tentacles and chocolate brown eyes, he would've thought at a glance it was Connor.

The stranger sensed he was being looked at and lifted his head up, shyly smiling at the Octoling with an awkward wave before going back to his phone. 

Once the elevator arrived to the bottom and opened up, Tobias stepped out first and slowly moved over towards the grouped together mailboxes. He's never seen the Inkling before and was curious if he lived here or was just visiting. Taking his and Connor's mail out and locking the box, Tobias watched the green Inkling head outside into the crowd.

He wondered if Connor knew anything about him.

**~~~**

Despite the determination to talk to Tobias about it the night he spoke with Valerie, nearly two more weeks went by until at last, Connor was unintentionally cornered by the Octoling.

They had been playing some Turf Wars for several hours before they both agreed they were tired so returned home. Tobias had asked Connor about the green Inkling to which sadly Connor wasn't too sure. He said he could look into it if Tobias really wanted to know.

Taking a bite from his sandwich they had picked up on their way home, Tobias waited until he swallowed before randomly asking, "So _how_ exactly would you be able to find out if that Inkling lives here or not?"

"I can use my Agent abilities and go under cover." he teased, smiling at the look he received. "But seriously, I can just look through all the tenant files. When you first move in, this place snaps a picture of you for identification purposes."

"Connor, but you could get into so much trouble sneaking through those, couldn't you!?" Tobias panicked.

Connor seemed surprised by how concerned the Octoling was. "Well, I mean I have the access to..."

"Wait... how?"

Connor chuckled, "I, guess I never told you. You ever wonder how it seems almost everyone within this building knows me? Especially the floors closer to ours? Well, my aunt and uncle own this entire apartment complex. It's the main reason why there were no issues when you first moved in with me."

Tobias stared. Well, that made sense. "Oh... wow, that's so cool!"

"So, yeah... if you're really interested, I can take a look." he offered again.

They spoke about other random things throughout their late lunch. Tobias sipped his soda while watching the Inkling. It has been bothering him ever since he found out from Valerie about Connor's ex, and hoped they had been together long enough now so that it wasn't too rude to ask. He was also wondering if that had anything to do with how secluded Connor acts towards him whenever their intimacy was brought up.

Finally building up the courage to just ask him, the Octoling took a deep breath and cleared his throat; "Connor. I apologize if I am out of line for asking this but... you're an _amazing_ person. What... happened between you and your ex to make you leave her?"

Connor was just about to take a bite from his sandwich but paused. Lowering his food to his plate, he looked up at him surprised at first that he knew about his ex but then took a deep breath before releasing it in a long sigh, "I'm going to assume Valerie told you. Sorry I... never mentioned it before. I had the worst day of my life, I guess you can say. I was returning home from a mission that I had nearly been killed on. I had sustained numerous injuries, I was hurting, tired... all I wanted to do was just go home, take a shower, grab a bite to eat and just lay in bed with her. She had just moved in with me and knew I was an Agent, so I knew she was there. Behold my surprise when I _did_ get home, I found her naked in _my_ bed being _fucked_ by some random guy."

Tobias felt his chest tighten as he nearly choked on his drink. Connor's ex had _cheated_ on him?? He couldn't see how _anyone_ could have cheated on Connor! Once the initial shock wore off, anger was quickly filling him. Just how selfish could she have been? Connor risks his life almost daily for this city and the people within it and his partner goes and thanks him for it by being unfaithful? He didn't bother asking anymore details... he was certain that she played the victim card.

Even if she wanted to move on because she was unhappy or maybe not getting enough of his attention because he's an Agent, she should've been honest about it to him and talked to him! Break things off _and then_ go find some new fling! _Not_ be so selfish and greedy by keeping Connor tied in a relationship while getting some on the side from other men! What right did she even _think_ she had to believe it was alright to keep Connor to herself, knowing he was faithful and was with only her, while she went and made herself openly available to anyone!?

"Dude, are you alright?"

Tobias jumped at Connor's tender voice, the light chuckle heard in it causing the Octoling to blink. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." he lied, his voice off-key enough for Connor to have picked up the change in his partner.

The Inkling stared at Tobias skeptically, raising a yellow brow as if to silently state that he didn't believe him. To further his point, teal eyes flickered down to the cup in the younger male's hands.

Tobias swallowed hard before chancing a glance himself, feeling his stomach plummet as he _knew_ he had been caught lying. He had been so wrapped up in his inner thoughts about Connor's ex girlfriend that he hadn't realized he had been crushing his cup.

About to apologize and explain himself, Connor stopped him by placing a hand to the Octoling's arm, smiling warmly at him, "If this is about her, please don't let it get to you. _She_ messed up and is out of the picture. She doesn't even live in this part of Inkopolis anymore. The lesson that I learned while being with her through that situation is... even if you _strongly_ believe you're falling in love with someone, _never_ rush into things. Especially if they _push_ you. I was foolish, and I thought I was in love with her. So, I made the mistake of given in and lost my..." Connor stopped suddenly and cleared his throat, taking his hand from Tobias' arm and leaning back, eyes dropping to stare at his food while he whispered; "Let's just say I ruined some important things for myself... and I don't want you doing the same."

Tobias was confused at first but then blinked once it sunk in what Connor meant and at that moment it all clicked; She was his first.

Connor had been heartbroken by the one he had lost his virginity to and doesn't want the same thing to possibly happen to Tobias.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Connor cleared his throat and pushed his sandwich to the side as he no longer felt hungry. "So, I guess that also contributes to some of my trust issues? I mean, before I never had a problem trusting any of my friends or partners. But after _her_ betrayal... I mean, I did try dating here and there after her but I just... couldn't. I always immediately thought 'Well, how long until THIS one cheats on me?' and it wasn't fair to the girls. So, I basically gave up and just focused on my Agent work."

Tobias leaned over and gently took Connor's right hand into both of his own, "But, you trust _me_ , right? Connor... you _know_ I would _never_ do anything to purposely hurt or betray you."

Connor smiled with a small nod, "I know, Tobi. It's just... _please_ make sure that... you're being honest with _yourself_ too, before making a huge decision. Don't settle with someone because at that moment it _feels_ right. The last thing you want to do... is to give yourself to someone who is broken." He winked with his words of advice, but Tobias saw the broken hearted message behind the forced smile.

"But you're _not_ broken!" Tobias exclaimed before gasping and covering his mouth with his hands. Oh, he didn't mean to say that out loud.

Connor stared at him, tilting his head to the side in the cute way that always made Tobias' face warm up.

Clearing his throat, Tobias corrected himself, "W-what I mean is... s-someone like you is hurt. Broken sounds... like you're useless... and you are _far_ from that."

Connor hummed with a small yet real smile as he took in Tobias' words. "Yeah, I guess you're right? Don't know why I never thought of it that way."

"For starters, you're too hard on yourself. I can even see that now." the Octoling tried teasing, earning himself a playful glare before the Inkling snorted and shook his head with a light laugh. "You just need someone special to help heal you." Tobias spoke softly while this time taking both of Connor's hands into his own, staring at them and watching as he used his thumbs to gently stroke the Inkling's darker skin. "Maybe... you even already _have_ them? And maybe... _they_ have already made the decision that they _want_ to heal you?"

Connor frowned at the other's obvious hints. He knows that Tobias was pretty set with losing his virginity to the him, but Connor still wanted to make sure that the Octoling was one hundred percent certain he was positive with that choice. He'd hate to take his innocence just for the young Octoling to turn around the next day filled with regrets.

Like he had...

Feeling the tension coming off the younger male, Connor smiled and closed his eyes, giving the best answer he could think of at the time to keep Tobias from becoming upset or thinking that Connor was fully against the idea of being his first; "You're absolutely right, Tobi. But, none of us knows for sure except time. And that's why I say, don't rush things..."

Tobias didn't even bother to hide the pure joy he felt at that response. It was vague, but Connor was still keeping it open to being Tobias' first! He just secretly prayed it didn't take time long to reveal the answers to them.

After feeling his hearts settling down from the adrenaline of the conversation, Tobias took a long sip from his drink, trying to ignore the crumpled cup. Seeing Connor trying to decide if he actually wanted to eat the remainder of his meal, Tobias retreated into his own thoughts for a bit. 

They've been together now for eight weeks, and even though their... _first_ attempt at being intimate had failed, Tobias just _knew_ that he wants Connor to be his first! Sure he sees many attractive Inklings and other Octolings walking around the city, but he can't even try to imagine kissing someone else's lips other than Connor's! So that _had_ to speak for something. He also knew now for a fact, that _he_ wants to be the one to heal Connor of the deep hurt left behind by his ex.

_'Only time will tell...'_

**~~~**

The following night, Connor surprised Tobias with a nice dinner under the guise of being a 'Thank you for putting up with my crap'. But through out the meal, Connor kept asking him the same question just all in different ways. And Tobias would always answer them with the same answer.

It was about him being sure to losing his virginity to him.

Tobias could only imagine the hurt Connor had felt from the betrayal, but to keep asking him? It finally reached a point of Tobias letting his patience slip, the flustered Octoling looking Connor dead in the eyes and asking the Inkling a question in a shockingly stern tone;

"Well, will I be given a reason to regret losing it to you? Will _I_ come home to find _you_ in bed with another?"

Despite the Octoling repeatedly apologizing for the question, Connor on the other hand was _grateful_ for it. The sternness not only put him in his place and his mind at ease for the first time since he found out he was a virgin.

But also... _something_ about the authority displayed just then sent a sting of arousal through his body that stung him in a way he had _never_ felt before and needless to say; it turned him on.

Without another word, Connor took Tobias' hand and lead him to the bedroom, his hearts pounding heavily in his chest. His anxiety calmed slightly upon the knowing squeeze to his hand from his partner, appreciating the reassurance from him. _'One step at a time. He wants this. I want this. We're not pushing each other. I just need... to focus on Tobias tonight. Not my past. He just needs to know that I'm... dirty... and if he's alright with that before anything.'_

To Be Continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost all the pieces to the puzzle are revealed! Hopefully Connor's starting to be a little more understandable.
> 
> And who is that mysterious green Inkling?! o:
> 
> Lol, also sorry for the short chapter.


End file.
